Boeing Penalty May End Soon

Boeing Co.’s suspension from receiving Air Force space contracts might be lifted by Sept. 30, the service’s No. 2 official said Tuesday.

Three Boeing units were suspended in July 2003 from receiving new launch contracts. The Air Force said the company had improperly obtained documents from Lockheed Martin Corp. that helped it win a 1998 contract for a booster rocket program called the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.

Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets declined Tuesday to predict exactly when Boeing’s suspension would end, except to say it could be “near term,” possibly by Sept. 30.

“Boeing has taken strong action to work out an agreement with the Air Force” that meets the service’s demand for a rigorous ethics program at the No. 2 defense contractor, Teets said. The Air Force general counsel is still reviewing Boeing’s action, he said.

Teets in June said the suspensions would probably stay in place until December, pending resolution of a criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles into whether the document scheme was sanctioned by high-level Boeing officials.

In other news, Boeing won a $3.7-billion order from Singapore Airlines Ltd. for 18 long-range 777s, beating Airbus, people familiar with the order said.

Shares of Boeing rose 26 cents to $50.91 on the New York Stock Exchange.