Transportation

Boeing began installing reinforced lithium ion batteries on five grounded 787 jets that should make the first commercial Dreamliners ready to fly again in about a week.

Airbus is on course to end 2011 with well over 1,600 orders, and Boeing has stored up momentum for a strong year.

Boeing won its largest ever order at $19 billion to sell 150 aircraft to Southwest Airlines.

After shelving its common-stock dividend more than five years ago, Ford revealed plans on Thursday to reinstate a dividend early next year.

The Machinists Union has dropped its grievances with against Boeing with the National Labor Board.

U.S. Airways (NYSE:LCC) said revenue passenger miles, a key profitability metric for airlines, increased 3.4% in November.

Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) continued its stretch of greater monthly traffic dating back to last year, as the company reported Friday a 6.4% increase in September traffic. The rise in combined traffic between Southwest Airlines and AirTran, which Southwest purchased in May, outpaced the company’s expanding capacity.

DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers leadership pushing for ratification of a new four-year labor contract with Ford Motor Co made fresh gains Saturday with nearly half of the worker vote counted, a union online update showed.

OSHKOSH, Wis. (Reuters) - Workers at defense contractor Oshkosh Corp turned down a new five-year contract offer from the company for a second time in little more than a week Saturday even after union leaders narrowed differences between the two sides in recent days.

Shares of American Airlines parent AMR Corp fell as much as 41% on growing fears the the airline is headed for bankruptcy.

(Reuters) - American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp , and its pilots planned weekend contract talks amid fresh signs the two could be nearing a deal after five years of mostly bitter bargaining, chiefly over wages and job protection.

Qantas flights returned to the air after the company grounded all activity on Saturday in an effort to force the government to intervene in its labor dispute with the unions.

Timing is everything in business; so who thought it would be a good idea to do major tinkering with an airline’s website just weeks before Thanksgiving? 

American Eagle was charged for extended delays that affected more than 600 people on 15 flights last May in Chicago. The delays were up to 225 minutes, which is about 45 minutes beyond the limit.

Australia's Qantas Airways plans to cut fares and launch an advertising blitz to win back passengers, a newspaper said, after its showdown with unions caused international travel chaos and left almost 70,000 travelers stranded.

Maritime operations at the Port of Oakland, one of the largest container ports in the U.S., were shut down on Wednesday evening by demonstrators protesting against economic inequality.

By Scott Malone

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's biggest defense contractor BAE Systems said it will axe up to 3,000 jobs in Britain as cuts to global defense budgets hit orders for its fighter jets.

By Mariko Katsumura and Kiyoshi Takenaka

By Deepa Seetharaman