BUSINESS BRIEFS
Ford could trim 4,200 workers from its ranks
Associated Press
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. has said that it wants to cut its blue-collar workforce by another 4,200 employees, according to a person briefed on a presentation to union officials.
The struggling automaker is offering buyout and early retirement packages at manufacturing operations in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana as it continues efforts to trim its factory ranks to match lower demand for its products.
Ford has declined to publicly state a target number, but Joe Hinrichs, group vice president of global manufacturing, told union officials the company has 4,200 more blue-collar workers than it needs, according to the person briefed on the presentation.
TOUR FIRM CLOSES, STRANDING 85,000
LONDON — Thousands of British travelers were stranded today when the country's third-largest tour operator collapsed.
XL Leisure Group PLC blamed its failure on volatile fuel prices, a sagging economy and its inability to secure more funding.
The British Civil Aviation Authority estimated there were 50,000 customers abroad who had booked through an XL tour operator, 10,000 on holiday with XL Airways and 25,000 with other tour operators who shared the XL flights.
Some 200,000 customers had advance bookings with the XL tour operators, the CAA said.
BOEING, STRIKING UNION NOT TALKING
SEATTLE — Six days into a strike by Boeing Co. aircraft assembly workers, there have been no direct talks between the aerospace company and the machinists union.
Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said yesterday the company remains willing to negotiate but no talks were scheduled.
The union has not spoken directly with Boeing but remains in daily contact with a federal mediator, said Connie Kelliher, a spokeswoman for the union's District Lodge 751 here.
AIG SUIT SETTLED FOR $115 MILLION
WILMINGTON, Del. — Attorneys for a Louisiana pension fund reached a $115 million settlement yesterday in a shareholder lawsuit against former executives of insurance giant American International Group Inc.
The settlement was reached just days before trial was to begin in a lawsuit challenging hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions paid by AIG to C.V. Starr & Co., a privately held affiliate controlled by former AIG Chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and others.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the settlement includes a $29.5 million payment from Greenberg and three other individual defendants, with the remaining $85.5 million covered by liability insurance.
AMERICAN EAGLE, PILOTS REACH DEAL
FORT WORTH, Texas — Negotiators for pilots at American Eagle, the regional service for American Airlines, said yesterday they reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the company.
The union said the agreement avoided concessions by pilots while adding a "minimal increase to American Eagle's operating cost in these challenging economic times."
The tentative deal will be presented for ratification by the Air Line Pilots Association's governing body.
