AST Research Lands New Deal With Airline : Technology: Computer maker, beset by losses, signs five-year supply contract with American.

Computer maker AST Research Inc., which has reported losses for the past three quarters, said it has signed a significant supply contract with American Airlines Inc.

Executives of the Irvine-based computer company said the five-year deal would help ease AST’s financial stress, but they declined to provide a dollar value.

AST will supply the Dallas-based airline with notebook, desktop and network computers for use in the company’s reservation system.

AST Chairman and Chief Executive Safi U. Qureshey said the agreement was more substantial than the company’s previous agreements with American, which had lasted only for two years. He called the contract “a big deal to us . . . more of a business agreement, rather than strictly a sales contract.”

AST has sold American 75,000 computers over the last six years, making it one of AST’s largest customers.

But the most recent agreement had expired last summer, just as AST was announcing financial troubles that have resulted in losses and layoffs. Earlier this year the company dismissed 440 workers at its Fountain Valley manufacturing plant. To raise capital and open new markets, AST is in the process of selling a 40% stake in itself to Samsung Electronics Co., the South Korean electronics giant.

While the latest agreement with American does not specify an exact number of computers to be sold, Qureshey said it is significant for its longer length and because it calls for frequent consultation between American and AST designers and systems specialists.