Workers could be back on the job at Boeing, the world's largest commercial jet maker, on Wednesday.

Indeed, all week the jet makers looking to cash in on the deal have exchanged barely polite taunts, jeers and even mutual accusations of electronic eavesdropping.

European and American jet makers had competed for two years to join China in building the 100-seater.

Mr. Botelho, an engineer with no aviation experience, was brought in, and soon made it a major regional jet maker by selling 50-seat commuter planes.

American jet makers have held foreign companies to about half of worldwide sales.

Few, if any, corporate jet makers are on fuel efficiency drives.

The jet maker said it delivered 61 airplanes in June, the highest one-month total ever, and was on course to meet its goal of delivering 550 jets this year.

The delay, first reported by Flight International magazine, will be a blow to the jet makers invited to bid.

As corporate America suffered in the recession, its jet makers suffered even more.

Airbus Industrie, the second-largest jet maker, plans to open a pilot training center in Beijing next year.