Boeing loses ruling on C-130

The Boeing Co. suffered another blow Thursday as congressional investigators said the U.S. Air Force improperly favored the Chicago-based aerospace giant on a $4 billion contract to upgrade C-130 cargo planes.

In a long-awaited ruling, the Government Accountability Office sustained protests from Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems and L-3 Communications Inc.

The three companies complained last year that the contract award was tainted by the involvement of Darleen Druyun, a former senior Air Force official who has admitted giving special treatment to Boeing.

Druyun, who later took a job at Boeing, is now serving nine months in prison for violating federal conflict-of-interest laws.

Boeing said in a statement that its work on the C-130 modernization contract continues on schedule.

Wal-Mart loses discrimination case

New York

A federal jury has ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to pay a Long Island man $7.5 million after ruling that the world’s largest retailer discriminated against the man because he has cerebral palsy.

Patrick Brady, 21, was hired for a job in the Wal-Mart pharmacy department in Centereach during the summer of 2002. After one day in the pharmacy, he was reassigned to other responsibilities, including collecting garbage and shopping carts from the parking lot.

The jury in U.S. District Court in Central Islip deliberated one day before ruling on Wednesday that Brady was discriminated against when he was transferred. It also found that Brady was asked impermissible pre-employment questions about his disability, said his lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor.

Northwest hikes long-haul fares

New York

Northwest Airlines Corp. Thursday raised ticket prices on flights in the United States and Canada as the spring travel season approaches.

Kurt Ebenhoch, a spokesman for the Eagan, Minn., carrier, said it boosted fares for routes shorter than 1,000 miles by $5 each way.

For longer routes, the airline increased fares $10 each way, he said.

The fare increases are for all markets in the United States and Canada and all fare classes.

Northwest’s shares rose 8 cents to close Thursday at $6.74 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

UPS to close Dayton hub, idle 1,400

UPS Inc., the world’s largest shipping carrier, said Thursday it plans to close its recently acquired freight sorting hub in Dayton in 2006, eliminating 1,400 jobs, in a move the company said would make its overall operations more efficient.

The facility is the company’s only sorting hub for heavy airline freight. A new hub for handling cargo weighing more than 150 pounds will be built at another UPS facility in an effort to improve efficiency, said Norman Black, spokesman for Atlanta-based UPS.

UPS has operated the hub at Dayton International Airport since Dec. 20.