Transportation

Sticking to its plan, Ford said it will add 7,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next two years and said it believes the economy will expand, not suffer a double-dip recession.

By Bernie Woodall and Soyoung Kim

DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Co will begin "high-level financial discussions" on Monday in an effort to reach a new labor deal that workers expect to be richer than one with General Motors Co .

DETROIT (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of a congressional oversight panel has asked Ford Motor Co to explain why it pulled a TV commercial critical of the Obama administration's auto bailout.

DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union looks set to announce approval of its labor contract with General Motors Co on Wednesday as more than half the local bargaining units have voted in favor of the four-year deal.

By Bernie Woodall and Deepa Seetharaman

By Bernie Woodall and Deepa Seetharaman

DETROIT (Reuters) - Major automakers posted double-digit U.S. sales gains for August from year-earlier levels, a steady result for a month that began with a plunge on Wall Street and ended with a hurricane shutting down the East Coast.

With a tentative agreement with GM in the bag, the United Auto Workers union is now focusing on talks with Chrysler.

General Motors said it will offer loaner vehicles to more than 5,000 owners of its Chevrolet Volt amid a probe into fire risk.

Germany's Lufthansa unveiled a new 2013 profit outlook that fell short of expectations, driving its shares lower, as restructuring costs and volatile exchange rates weighed on its earnings.

Bombardier Inc said Flexjet LLC has placed a new firm order for 30 Learjet 85 aircraft, adding to a previous order of 30, as part of its deal to buy up to 245 Bombardier jets.

Dearborn, Michigan (Reuters) - The recent surge in U.S. auto production is hurting vehicle quality because automotive parts suppliers have less time to fix problems that emerge on the line, Ford Motor Co's new global purchasing chief told reporters on Monday.

American Airlines on Wednesday said it plans to add nonstop flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport next year.

Bombardier Inc said China's CDB Leasing Co Ltd may buy an additional 15 CSeries jetliners, potentially taking its total order to 30 aircraft worth about $2 billion, based on list prices.

Flight trials for Airbus's latest passenger jet, the A350, are going well and the European planemaker is sticking to its target of delivering the first of the lightweight jets in the second half of 2014, program chief Didier Evrard said.

Lockheed Martin Corp, the largest U.S. defense contractor, on Wednesday became the latest weapons maker in recent months to announce layoffs, saying it would let go of 600 workers in its Mission Systems and Training Division later this month.

A body panel fell off a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Air India as it came into land on Saturday, the latest glitch for the high-tech jet that has suffered a string of mishaps since its introduction two years ago.

The chief executive of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA ended weeks of criticism of Boeing Co on Thursday, praising the aircraft maker for fixing a faulty 787 Dreamliner and saying the $200 million high-tech plane is "fantastic" for the budget airline.

Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle plans to take its second Boeing Dreamliner out of operation for precautionary checks after repeated hydraulic and electrical faults led to the grounding of its other one.