COMPANIES

German Arm of Airbus to Lose Subsidy: One week after bagging a breakthrough order from United Airlines, Airbus Industrie is losing its subsidy from Germany’s government. Government subsidies to Airbus planes have been a sore point between Washington and the consortium of British, French, German and Spanish companies that have made the jetliners into formidable competitors to Boeing Co. and other U.S. plane builders. The German government’s coordinator for air and space industry, Erich Riedl, said in weekend newspaper interviews that the government will swap its 20% interest in Deutsche Airbus GmbH for the annulment of currency risk guarantees, retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. The guarantees, which softened the impact of swings in the value of the U.S. dollar, had been expected to cost the government about $400 million by 1996, the original deadline for the government to give up its stake in Deutsche Airbus.