Alaska Airlines parent company disclosed last week that federal prosecutors have reactivated a criminal investigation of maintenance performed on an MD-83 that crashed off the coast of California three years ago because of inadequate lubrication. In a March 12 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Alaska Air Group said the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California resumed the investigation after the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in December that th...

ExxonMobil has loosened the reins on its ester-based jet turbine oils business following the expiration of restrictions imposed when Exxon Corp. merged with Mobil Corp. As a condition of the 1999 merger, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission required Exxon to divest its Exxon Turbo Oil business, saying it would hold too much market share if combined with Mobils business. (With the consent of the commissions, ExxonMobil sold the business to BP in early 2001.) In addition, ...

Calumet Lubricants Co. announced last week that it has purchased ExxonMobils Orchex agricultural spray oils business. The transaction covers three lines of Orchex agricultural/citrus spray oils, as well as dormant spray oils, crop oil and banana spray oil. Calumet, of Indianapolis, Ind., now has exclusive rights to manufacture and market the products in the United States and parts of Central America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Calumet said it will make the products at its Shreveport, ...