U.S.-Japan air talks end with no formal deal
     SAN FRANCISCO - November 16, 1997 09:35 a.m. EST - Weekend trade
 talks between U.S. and Japanese negotiators aimed at opening Japan's
 aviation market ended with no formal deal, but both sides were opti-
 mistic an agreement could be reached at future talks.
     Both U.S. and Japanese officials said Saturday they had agreed
 to meet next month to continue to work toward an agreement.
     "We had a pretty good set of talks, actually. For two days, we
 got a chance to cover a whole range of issues," a senior member of
 the U.S. negotiating team told Reuters.
     "We have a lot of serious issues to discuss, but I guess what I
 detected was a new sense of readiness to come to grips with the tough
 issues," the U.S. official said. "We are making progress on each of
 the important issues."
     Japanese officials also appeared upbeat at the end of the two
 days of talks and said they were heartened to learn that the United
 States had no intention of imposing sanctions.
     "We had a very useful exchange of views in a very good atmo-
 sphere. We agreed to further make efforts to reach an agreement,"
 said Hiromichi Toya, vice minister for international affairs in
 Japan's Ministry of Transport.
     Negtiators on both sides declined to discuss specific details
 relating to the talks, and there was no word on what progress, if
 any, had been made on settling the sticking points that have so far
 blocked an agreement.
     The United States has said it wants more flights for U.S. car-
 riers with little current access to Japan and guarantees that Japan
 will honor existing rights to fly on to other Asian destinations.
     In return, Japan would get permission for All Nippon Airways to
 join Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. in providing expanded cargo and pas-
 senger service to the United States.
     Washington also has insisted that any agreement address Japan's
 right to disapprove fares and the opening of slots at Tokyo's Narita
 airport to U.S. carriers, which would get expanded service under an
 agreement.
     The slot issue in particular has been a hurdle, and Jiro Hanyu,
 senior deputy director general in Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau, said
 Friday that Tokyo was unable to accede to U.S. demands because of
 physical limitations.
     The meeting in San Francisco marked the fifth round of formal
 talks between both sides, and the tone at the end of the most recent
 talks was different from the pessimism that characterized the last
 round in Tokyo.
     "There were a lot of bad vibes coming out of Tokyo before this,
 and I think we've put things on a more constructive track," the U.S.
 official said.
     The next round of talks was scheduled for Dec. 15 through 17 in
 Tokyo.
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               France faces dilemma on Airbus manager
     DUBAI -- November 16, 1997 11:41 a.m. EST -- The world's second
 largest aircraft company is on a search for a new second in command,
 but with a redefined role that may make the job hard to fill.
     Airbus Industrie consortium managing director Jean Pierson, who
 was at the Dubai air show on Sunday to say farewell to customer air-
 lines in the region such as Emirates, is due to retire next spring.
     The four Airbus partners and the French government have to find
 a successor to work with a new supervisory board chairman, who has
 yet to be appointed.
     The top jobs are vital as part of Airbus's restructuring into a
 joint stock company by January 1999.
     The government's problems stem from the reduced role the next
 managing director will have under the new chairman -- who will be
 an executive chairman and continue as a senior director in his own
 Airbus partner company, an industry source familiar with the situ-
 ation told Reuters here.
     "To do what, with what powers," are the questions asked when the
 job comes up, he said.
     The dilemma is that the really top-quality names are not ready
 to take an essentially "B-list" job.
     Former Aerospatiale chairman Louis Gallois, present head of the
 state-owned SNCF railway operator, has categorically turned down the
 number two job at Airbus.
     Aerospatiale is an Airbus partner, alongside British Aerospace
 Plc, Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (Dasa) and Casa of Spain.
     And on Friday, French newspaper Les Echos reported that Jean-
 Francois Bigay, chairman of Eurocopter, the helicopter joint venture
 between Aerospatiale and Dasa, was being talked about as a possible
 managing director.
     But that idea has fallen on sterile ground, the source said.
     An Aerospatiale spokeswoman declined to comment.
     The pool of names is not a large one and the usual suspects are
 turned over when a senior position comes up, industry executives
 said.
     Alain Gomez, former chairman of defense electronics firm
 Thomson-CSF, has been touted as a possible candidate.
     A firm of headhunters came up with a blank when it was asked to
 find a list of candidates for the managing director's post, the
 first source said.
     The new executive chairman's job appears likely to go to Dasa's
 Manfred Bischoff, although no decision has yet been made.
     "It's effectively Bischoff, he's leading the pack," the source
 said.
     The Airbus appointments have to be agreed by the partners unan-
 imously and the French government.
     Traditionally, the top Airbus job has gone to a German and the
 managing director is a Frenchman. The partnership falls under French
 law.======
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