41.   A merger of the two companies raises antitrust questions on the commercial aircraft side because it would cut the number of civil airplane makers in the U.S. to one.

42.   Aerospatiale makes large commercial aircraft, propeller-operated planes, helicopters, missiles, and rocket launchers for Arianespace.

43.   Airbus, a fast-growing competitor in the commercial aircraft business, however, said a merger would give it an even greater reason to exist.

44.   Airbus has pulled even with Boeing in sales of smaller commercial aircraft.

45.   Airbus Industrie would be the only remaining maker of large commercial aircraft if Boeing buys McDonnell Douglas.

46.   Airline travel is booming everywhere, and Allied is a big exporter of engines and parts for commercial aircraft.

47.   Airlines have greater incentive to consider Airbus now that there are only two makers of large commercial aircraft left, he said.

48.   But federal search warrants and affidavits raise the possibility that commercial aircraft could be flying with parts not built to Boeing engineering specifications.

49.   But industry analysts and insiders cautioned that a world with only two commercial aircraft manufacturers may not happen anytime soon.

50.   But since then it has been growing a bit, though that is a result of strong demand for commercial aircraft, not weapons.