BUSINESS BRIEFS
Business briefs: Saturday, June 14, 2008

Published: June 14, 2008

DALLAS —- Southwest Airlines confirms that passengers were not avoiding travel on Friday the 13th.

Traditional superstitions are thrown out the door by many travelers looking for no fees and a low fare, the airline said.

"Initial reports say that passengers are not avoiding row 13 on our aircraft today, and the date has not stopped them from flying altogether. Bookings are strong and the price of gas proves to be much scarier than taking to the skies,” according to a news release.

Along with exceptionally high online bookings, Southwest Airlines announces it will not charge a fee for throwing salt over one's shoulder. However, the airline said it will still not allow black cats onboard its flights and is recommending that customers wrap mirrors in bubble wrap to avoid breakage and seven years of bad luck.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have ordered the immediate inspection of throttles on small personal jets manufactured by Eclipse Aviation Corp. after one plane made an emergency landing in Chicago.

In response to an urgent recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order late Thursday requiring inspection of all Eclipse 500 aircraft throttles and replacement of malfunctioning ones before each plane is flown again. The FAA order also requires that operators immediately insert into the aircraft's flight manual new emergency procedures for dual engine control failure.

The FAA said the Chicago incident had shown that the throttles for the plane's two engines could remain stuck at full power if pushed forward with enough force, depriving the pilot of the ability to control the plane's speed.

NEW YORK — BlackRock Inc. President Robert Kapito said Friday he's confident of the asset manager's stake in Lehman Brothers and doesn't believe the investment bank needs a buyer or outside investor to survive.

Kapito said BlackRock is a "very strong” supporter of Lehman Brothers and remains "confident in the fixed-income and equity businesses.” He would not say how much BlackRock invested in Lehman this week in response to the investment bank's move to raise $6 billion of fresh capital by selling common and preferred shares.

He downplayed Lehman's need to strike a deal to stay in business. There has been speculation Lehman Chief Executive Richard Fuld was interested in getting more capital from a sovereign wealth fund, or possibly taking on a major investor from among BlackRock, private equity's Blackstone LLP or global bank HSBC Holdings PLC. The last two companies declined to comment.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — In the shadow of the Kennedy Space Center, the countdown has begun in the towns that run on the space program's clock.

NASA is retiring its shuttle fleet in two years, and for at least five years after that, no humans will launch from Florida's "Space Coast.”

Communities built up around Cape Canaveral figure to take a hobbling hit. There will be no more blastoffs by Atlantis, Discovery or Endeavour to pack hotels and viewing sites with tourists. Up to 6,400 of the 8,000 people who work as shuttle contractors in the area will lose their jobs, according to early NASA estimates.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has denied Texaco Inc.'s bid for a $101 million tax refund after paying $1.25 billion to settle an overcharging complaint.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's decision on Friday and said Texaco, which is now part of Chevron Corp., is not entitled to the refund.

Texaco paid the Department of Energy $1.25 billion in the late 1980s and early 1990s to settle claims that its oil sales between 1973 and 1981 exceeded price ceilings set by federal regulators.

A Texaco lawyer didn't immediately return a call.

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. managers told union officials Friday that the automaker will have to reduce the size of its factory work force further to deal with the rapidly shifting U.S. auto market, a company spokeswoman said.

Union officials were told in a meeting that the automaker needs to make additional cost cuts "so that we can make the vehicles in an efficient way that customers are buying,” said spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari.

Ford already has announced it will make salaried job cuts.

DETROIT — Teamsters officials say they're close to a tentative agreement on a national car haulers contract.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters chief negotiator Fred Zuckerman says a few economic proposals are left in the multi-employer negotiations.

The sides are to meet next week in Detroit to hammer out a deal.

Separate talks continue to end an unrelated five-day, 1,250-worker strike against Allen Park-based Performance Transportation Services Inc.

Teamsters went on strike after PTS pulled out of the negotiations.

NEW YORK — An investor group led by NBC Universal moved closer to buying The Weather Channel Friday after Time Warner Inc. dropped out of the bidding.

NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., said late Friday that it had entered exclusive negotiations to buy The Weather Channel from its owner, Landmark Communications Inc.

NBC is working on the bid together with the private equity investment firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.

The bidding process for The Weather Channel had drawn earlier interest from other media companies including CBS Corp., but Time Warner and NBC were the only ones that made it to the final round.

The Weather Channel would have a clear fit with NBC since the company already operates a digital weather news and information service called NBC Weather Plus together with its local TV affiliates.

Landmark, a family held media company based in Norfolk, Va., is also considering selling its newspapers, including its flagship publication The Virginian-Pilot.

The Associated Press

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