Airbus is set to bag $14-bn A350 conversion order

Airbus is on the verge of securing an order for 45 of its A350-900 wide-body jetliners, a critical win after a run of deferrals by US carriers, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday and would be valued at $14 billion before discounts, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. The order will likely be placed by United Continental Holdings to convert an earlier $12.6 billion deal for 35 of the bigger -1000 variant, based on current list prices, the people said. Airbus declined to comment on discussions with customers. United, which is seeking to renew its fleet of aging Boeing Co 747 and 777 wide-body planes, was unavailable to comment outside normal business hours. The expanded order comes after American Airlines Group and Delta Air Lines both put off deliveries of the marquee Airbus jetliner amid concern about the risk of operating larger planes. BLOOMBERG