Firm in fight over wishbone

The Thanksgiving wishbone, that age-old good luck charm, is causing bad blood between a small Seattle manufacturer and Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Lucky Break Wishbone Corp., which makes replica plastic turkey wishbones, claims in a federal lawsuit that Sears and its advertising agency gave away rip-offs of Lucky Break’s design after canceling a deal to use its products in a holiday promotion.

Sears and the advertiser, Young & Rubicam, counter that the natural design of a turkey bone can’t be copyrighted.

A federal judge has ordered the parties to spend 60 days in arbitration, but Lucky Break attorney Mark Walter said he’s not expecting a settlement anytime soon.

Regardless of the outcome, Lucky Break founder Ken Ahroni said he expects to sell about a million wishbones this year. He’s also trying to expand from the Thanksgiving niche, perhaps marketing the wishbones as stocking stuffers for Christmas.

Washington

Boeing deal likely to get review

The U.S. Air Force is likely to review whether a $15 billion contract for search and rescue helicopters was correctly awarded to Boeing Co., a defense industry analyst predicts.

The sole-source contract awarded Nov. 9 to upgrade 141 Sikorsky Aircraft Pace Hawk helicopters caught many in the defense industry by surprise, says Loren Thompson at the Lexington Institute and a longtime government adviser.

The Air Force has not yet decided whether to do a review, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The Boeing contract has been put on hold until the Government Accountability Office reviews protests filed by competitors Lockheed Martin Corp. and Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of United Technologies Corp. All three companies bid on the contract in November 2005.

Report: Airlines need to improve

The U.S. airline industry needs to do a better job of providing timely information about flight delays and handling bumped passengers, an internal government watchdog said on the eve of one of the country’s busiest travel periods.

The Transportation Department’s inspector general issued a report to Congress, made public on Wednesday, that highlights several industrywide shortcomings in the area of customer service.

In a review of the operations at 14 large U.S. airlines, including AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp., Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc., the inspector general found that carriers need improvement in:

“Giving passengers accurate and timely information about delays and cancellations.

“Training employees who assist passengers with disabilities.

“Explaining to frequent fliers the rules and restrictions governing redemptions.

“Compensating passengers who give up seats on overbooked flights.

The review was requested by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in June 2005.