Wall Street likes the new direction in which US Airways Inc. appears to be headed, as well it should.

Wall Street analysts who follow the Boeing Co. seem to have concluded that the production bottlenecks that are proving so troublesome for the commercial airframe manufacturer and many of its vendors will be all but gone by next spring.

If the emerging market for automated explosive detection equipment for airline baggage grows as rapidly as some industry observers think it will in the next 2-3 years, Vivid Technologies Inc.'s stock will be one to watch closely.

Considering how poorly America West Holdings' stock has done thus far in 1997, it would seem the U.S.' ninth-largest airline may be one of the most underappreciated companies in the commercial air transportation sector.

Some market professionals are suggesting US Airways Group may dampen its third-quarter profits through accounting provisions to make the company's financial performance less of an issue in future labor negotiations.

Communications and electronics supplier Harris Corp. has been providing weather information to the FAA since 1989 through the integration of computer and software packages, and now the $3.8-billion company is poised to expand its substantial book of business with the government agency yet again.

Merger-and-acquisition specialists expect cash-rich General Dynamics Corp. to emerge as the winner in the defense industry's latest consolidation play--United Defense L.P., which is being auctioned by co-owners FMC Corp. and Harsco Corp.

Wall Street's reaction to ValuJet Inc.'s plan to merge with AirWays Corp. and replace its tainted name has been tepid.