Alaska Airlines is facing new questions about lubrication of a tail assembly in its MD-80 series jets – the same assembly whose failure caused a 2000 crash that killed 88 people. Twice this year, mechanics reported finding assemblies that were insufficiently greased, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is now conducting an inquiry of the incidents. The company refutes the suggestion that the incidents reflect unsafe maintenance practices but has nevertheless announced new policies...

DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group has launched the rebrand licensing program for its trademarked ATF+4 automatic transmission fluids. Four oil companies are now licensed to blend ATF+4; three of them are ready to sell product to licensed rebranders. Rebecca Cox of the Center for Quality Assurance, a division of the Institute of Materials, announced the rebrand program Monday at the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. The Center, based in Midland, ...

The U.S. base oil market apparently has begun to regain the first barrels of capacity knocked offline by Hurricane Rita. Citgo told Lube Report yesterday that its plant in Lake Charles, La., has resumed production, although it is not operating normally yet. Citgos plant appears to be the first of four along the Gulf of Mexico Coast to begin manufacturing again after being forced by Rita to shut down. The Lake Charles lube and wax plant is returning to normal operations and resuming production, C...

Led by another significant drop in demand for process oils, U.S. lubricant sales volumes dipped 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same period of 2004, according to the latest statistics from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The associations Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales, released Friday, showed sales volumes of process oils dropping 6.4 percent for the three months ended June 30. Excluding process oils, sales of lubricants and greases grew a modes...