June 25 (Bloomberg) -- International Lease Finance Corp., the world's biggest aircraft lessor, said it may order 300 jetliners from Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS to meet demand from airlines that can no longer afford to buy their own planes.

ILFC may purchase 150 single-aisle aircraft from each manufacturer, Chief Operating Officer John Plueger said in an interview. While the order would be equivalent to one-fifth the total Airbus is seeking this year and worth about $22 billion at list prices, the leasing company said it's seeking discounts.

``A stressed marketplace provides us with a lot of opportunities, maybe buying some airplanes at reduced cost,'' Plueger said by telephone yesterday. Los Angeles-based ILFC, a unit of American International Group Inc., is the biggest owner of commercial airliners, with a 1,000-strong fleet.

Airbus and Boeing may be forced to lower prices as the airline industry heads for losses that may reach $6.1 billion this year with oil at $135 a barrel, according to International Air Transport Association estimates. About two dozen carriers have collapsed or filed for bankruptcy in 2008, while others such as JetBlue Airways Corp. are postponing deliveries to cut spending.

The average discount on aircraft purchases is about 30 percent, said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London. A price cut of more than 50 percent would lead to a loss on each plane, he said, something Airbus and Boeing would contemplate only ``in absolute desperation.'' A discount of 30-40 percent is more realistic, said the analyst, who has a ``sell'' rating on Airbus parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co.

`Good Values'

``There's going to be some good values on deferred or canceled orders,'' says Richard Aboulafia, vice president at the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based consulting company. ``Production slots will open for planes getting built and you'll see great deals on those planes.''

ILFC may buy short-haul 737 series planes from Chicago-based Boeing and the A320 family from Toulouse, France-based Airbus, Plueger said. The aircraft have sticker prices of $50 million to $90 million, according to the model bought.

Contracts may be placed at next month's Farnborough International Air Show in England, said Plueger. The purchase would be ILFC's biggest purchase at a show -- where manufacturers often announce the year's biggest deals -- for at least a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Airbus's biggest narrowbody order was for 150 planes from China last November. Among Boeing's largest deals were one for 100 single-aisle planes from Irish discount carrier Ryanair Holdings Plc in 2002 and one for 115 from UAL Corp.'s United Airlines in 1989.

`Pretty Sweet'

``Farnborough is coming up and we have proposals in front of us for both Airbus and Boeing, about 150 each,'' Plueger said. ``Both now see their backlogs as much more vulnerable. If the deal gets pretty sweet we'll take advantage.''

Airbus parent EADS rose 39 cents, or 3.1 percent, to 12.95 euros in Paris. A deal for 150 planes would be equal to 21 percent of the 700 orders that Airbus Chief Executive Officer Louis Gallois is targeting this year.

Boeing fell $5.15, or 6.9 percent, to $69.64 in New York, the biggest drop since August 2002, after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its rating to ``sell'' on concern that fuel prices and a weakening economy will slow orders.

Delay Option

Instead of ordering now, ILFC may wait six months to a year to sign contracts if prices seem likely to decline further as airline expenses climb, Plueger said. Jet fuel now accounts for about 40 percent of carriers' costs, up from 13 percent five years ago, according to IATA. Crude oil hit a record $139.89 a barrel on June 16. It today fell 1.8 percent to $134.55 for August delivery.

Slowing economies and accelerating inflation are also crimping travel demand, squeezing balance sheets and limiting the ability of airlines to fund new aircraft. These factors should benefit ILFC as carriers still need more fuel-efficient fleets.

Airbus and Boeing may lose as many as one-third of their orders as airlines seek to save money, the Wall Street Journal said today. The paper cited ILFC Chief Executive Officer Steven Udvar-Hazy as saying 25-30 percent of the backlog may be at risk. Plueger confirmed the estimate.

Production Increase

Airbus has a backlog of 3,655 planes, or more than six years of work. It delivered a record 453 aircraft last year and is planning to hand over about 470 this year. EADS Chief Executive Officer Louis Gallois said on June 18 there were no plans to slow the production increase.

Boeing, which had a backlog of 3,645 orders as of May, is in ``constant contact'' with customers and regards deferrals and cancellations as ``a normal part of its business,'' spokeswoman Sherry Nebel said last night by telephone. It plans to deliver 480 planes this year, up from 441 in 2007.

ILFC, purchased in 1990 by New York-based AIG, the world's biggest insurer, ranks as the No. 1 lessor by aircraft value. While the GE Commercial Aviation Services unit of General Electric Co. has more planes, many are smaller regional craft.

ILFC placed an $8.8 billion order for 63 Boeing planes at last year's Paris Air Show, which alternates with the Farnborough event. The lessor's biggest order in the past 10 years came in July 2000, when it agreed to buy as many as 87 Airbuses, according to Bloomberg data.

Plane-rental companies may not be immune to the aviation industry slowdown, said Robert Martin, CEO of Singapore-based BOC Aviation, Asia's biggest aircraft lessor.

``When we get to the end of the summer period that is the dangerous time for the market, when the northern hemisphere high- traffic period comes to an end,'' Martin said yesterday in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``We're seeing some slowdown in the growth in the market.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France at aerothman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 25, 2008 17:05 EDT