GE jet engines gets $24M order

        The partnership of GE Aircraft Engines and Snecma Moteurs of France has landed a new engine order from a Panamanian airline.

        COPA, Compania Panamena de Aviacion, signed an order for six firm and six optional Boeing 7379 700/800 jets valued at $120 million. CFM56-7 engines built by GEAE and Snecma will power the jets. The engine order was estimated at $24 million.

        The aircraft are slated for delivery starting next year.

AK Steel donates to Sept. 11 project

        Middletown's AK Steel is donating 20,000 pounds of stainless steel to a project commemorating United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in western Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.

        The steel, melted at AK's Butler, Pa., Works, will be used by the Pennsylvania-based Hearts of Steel project to make commemorative bracelets that will be sold to raise money for a permanent memorial to the passengers and crew who are thought to have battled hijackers before the crash.

        Information on the project is available at www.heartsofsteel.com.

Navistar to idle 315 Ind. workers

        Navistar International Corp. on Monday said it will indefinitely idle 315 employees at an Indianapolis engine plant Sept. 27 because the truck maker expects lower sales and a need for fewer workers on a new production line.

        The move comes after the world's fourth-largest truck maker said Friday it might lay off as many as 600 of the 1,400 workers at the factory, which installed new equipment to start building a new 6.0-liter diesel engine for Ford Motor Co.'s Super Duty pickup trucks in November. Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley declined to comment on the rest of the employees.

        Navistar earlier this month posted a $16 million loss for its third quarter ended July 31 and said it expects weak demand to lead to another loss this quarter. Tougher U.S. emissions rules that take effect Oct. 1 have cut demand for heavy trucks, and medium-duty truck sales have fallen as leasing companies wait for signs of economic recovery.

        - From staff and wire reports

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