AEROSPACE

Boeing 777 Gets Regulatory Nod: The jetliner received formal approval from U.S. and European regulators, a critical step for a plane that is to start carrying paying passengers in less than two months. U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and other U.S. and European authorities attended a Seattle ceremony inside a hangar with a 777 parked nearby. After 10 months of test flights and years of testing, the huge twin-engine aircraft got the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Joint Aviation Authorities. Seattle-based Boeing Co. has spent billions of dollars and pinned much of its hopes on the 777, which will compete with Airbus Industries’ A330 and A340 aircraft and McDonnell Douglas’ MD-11.