Alaska Airlines said Thursday it has received final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for its plan to reinforce cockpit doors. The airline began the upgrades to its Boeing MD-80 airplanes with a test case Monday night, which the FAA approved early Wednesday, spokesman Jack Walsh said. Seattle-based Alaska is installing a crossbar locking device on its cockpit doors in an effort to boost security following the hijacking attacks Sept. 11. It hopes to have its entire 102-aircraft fleet updated within 30 days.
Alcoa’s earnings in the third quarter fell 8 percent as the company struggled with weak transportation and construction markets, energy shortages and sagging aluminum prices. The world’s largest aluminum company said it expected weak demand to continue into the fourth quarter as airplane and auto sales fall following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The company said it would still meet its goal of cutting $1 billion from costs by 2003. Energy shortages here have idled the company’s Wenatchee Works smelter near Malaga, Wash., until at least September 2002.
In the days following the jetliner terror attacks, the normally smooth flow of trade was practically paralyzed. Now that global commerce is back near normal, businesses have a new worry. With wartime-type security at American points of entry still in place, some businesses are concerned that protracted anti-terrorism efforts will complicate – and slow – the movement of goods that anchor the world economy.
Propped by a government loan, Swissair resumed flights Thursday after a two-day shutdown, with takeoffs for South Africa, the United States and Macedonia, the airline said. Besides attempting to resume a normal schedule, the airline was also trying to move thousands of passengers stranded by the carrier’s shutdown Tuesday in a squeeze between banks and creditors. Meanwhile, European Union regulators in Brussels promised to quickly consider Belgium’s offer to give a similar bridging loan of $114 million to its national carrier, Sabena.
Food and beverage maker Groupe Danone said Thursday that it has acquired a 40 percent stake in fast-growing yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm, extending its U.S. interests. Danone declined to disclose financial terms of the deal, but said that Stonyfield has annual revenue of about $85 million and that it makes the top brand in the U.S. natural yogurt segment. The French company, which also sells bottled water and cookies, had revenue of about $600 million from its U.S. dairy product operations in 2000.
From Herald news services
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