Congressmen Norm Dicks and Rick Larsen visited Boeing’s Everett plant Friday with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO James Albaugh. They talked with workers about the jobs that will be retained because Boeing won a $35 billion Air Force contract last month to build 179 air refueling tankers. The tanker
s use the 767 airframe, which is assembled at the plant. Dicks recently suggested accelerating the tanker production, saving money from the quicker retirement of older KC-135 tankers that are costly to maintain. KC-135 tankers from Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane are currently involved in supporting the no-fly zone in Libya. Dicks is the top-ranking Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Larsen is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Attendants not allowed to strike
The U.S. isn’t allowing flight attendants at financially strapped American Airlines to walk the picket lines any time soon, and that could change the tone of labor negotiations across the industry, some experts said Friday. The National Mediation Board, the U.S. agency that referees labor-management relations for airlines, has ignored a request made a year ago by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, asking the federal government to release it from negotiations for what’s called a 30-day cooling-off period, which then allows for a strike. For almost three years, American Airlines flight attendants have been in talks with management, seeking improved wages and benefits as well as more job security. But management has refused to deal until the union allows more scheduling flexibility.
Deferred payment for college loans
Sallie Mae is bringing back an option that lets students wait until after graduation to start repaying loans. The private student lender, formally known as SLM Corp., had done away with its signature deferred payment option loan during the credit crisis in 2009. At the time, Sallie Mae instead began requiring borrowers to make interest payments right away while in school. The company said the in-school payments helped defray long-term costs for students by reducing the amount of interest that accumulated on the loan. The company also was looking to reduce its exposure to defaults during the credit crunch.
Unrest drives up world oil prices
Oil prices moved up closer to $106 a barrel Friday as political upheaval in the Middle East and signs of strong global demand kept crude near two-year highs. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for May delivery was up 17 cents to $105.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 15 cents to settle at $105.60 on Thursday. Crude prices have jumped 25 percent since protests against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi began in mid-February
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