Dassault To Reduce Falcon Biz Jet Production

Weak demand for aircraft has prompted Dassault to cutproduction of its Falcon business jets for next year. The company currently hasa backlog of 159 aircraft, according to Dassault Chairman/CEO CharlesEdelstenne. The current rate of deliveries will continue until mid-2003, and thenproduction will be cut to five aircraft per month, down from the current rateof six or seven. "The U.S. economy is not recovering, Europe is laggingand we fear a [more serious] global crisis, the worst environment we could thinkof," Edelstenne said. "The time is ripe to demonstrate how flexibleDassault is."