The Japanese government is considering guaranteeing as much as ¥700 billion (US$7.8 billion) in investment in Japan Airlines, including loans, to prevent it from running out of cash, local media report.

A round of subcontracts for new Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft will advance the technology of rapidly expanding component makers in Southeast Asia, lining them up for work on the next generation of programs. The work will variously take the manufacturers into aluminum-lithium fabrication and the assembly of large, critical airframe parts. In one case, it will underpin a research and development effort aimed at out-of-autoclave curing of composite materials, widely regarded as an important future step in cutting airframe costs.

Malaysian parts makers CTRM and SMEA will exploit subcontracts from Spirit Aerosystems, Goodrich and Vought to advance their technology as they prepare for the prospective narrowbody replacement programs of Airbus and Boeing. Composite specialist CTRM will make carbon-fiber parts for the A350’s leading edge under a subcontract from Spirit signed on Wednesday. Turnover of the company’s dominant aerostructures division will rise 30-40% as a result of that deal and another signed in October to make composite components of 787 engine cowls for Goodrich.