Qatar reconsiders order for 20 jets

In a new sign of dissatisfaction within organized labor, two national trade unions on Tuesday broke away from an alliance affiliated with the AFL-CIO after complaints about declining membership and misplaced priorities.

The Laborers International Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers, representing more than 1 million members, are breaking away from the umbrella group known as the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO as of March 1. The umbrella group still has 11 unions representing about 2 million workers.

The Laborers and Operating Engineers will join with four other unions in the construction business — the Teamsters, Carpenters, Iron Workers and Bricklayers unions — to form the National Construction Alliance, a confederation aimed at expanding union membership in the construction field. The new alliance will focus heavily on building union strength in almost 30 states where the construction business has low union membership.

$12 billion lost since start of '01

Delta Air Lines, the nation's third-largest carrier, reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss on a solid increase in revenue, but its results pushed its red ink to more than $12 billion since January 2001.

The company, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, said it lost $1.24 billion in the three months ending Dec. 31, compared to a loss of $2.21 billion in the same period a year ago.

The airline did not provide per-share data in its balance sheet Tuesday.

Excluding one-time reorganization and other special items, Delta said it lost $782 million in the October to December quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting a loss of $3.32 a share in the fourth quarter.

Air-cargo industry under investigation

U.S. and European regulators have launched a probe of trans-Atlantic cargo carriers, examining possible price fixing in the air-cargo industry.

The European Commission carried out surprise inspections Tuesday at several major Europeans airlines, while the U.S. Justice Department issued subpoenas.

British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Luxembourg's Cargolux Airlines all confirmed they were cooperating with authorities investigating the pricing practices in the industry.

The largest U.S. airline, American Airlines, also said it has received a subpoena from the Justice Department as part of an investigation into practices in the air-cargo industry.

In a brief statement to the London Stock Exchange, British Airways said it had received a request for information from both the European Commission and the Department of Justice and was assisting in the probe.

First Trent 1000 starts successfully

Rolls-Royce successfully started up its first Trent 1000 engine, developed for the Boeing 787, on Tuesday in Derby, England.

Dominic Horwood, director of Boeing Programmes at Rolls-Royce, said initial testing proceeded smoothly.

The first engine is one of seven to be used in ground testing. Nine more will be used for flight tests next year, with the test engines attached to the wing of a 747.

Buffett won't return to Coca-Cola board

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett will not stand for re-election to Coca-Cola's board of directors, the world's biggest soft drink company said Tuesday.

Buffett, who has been on the board since 1989 and is one of the company's biggest shareholders, told Coke he made his decision because of increased demands on his time resulting from acquisitions by his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.

He said Berkshire Hathaway intends to retain its holdings of Coca-Cola stock, which regulatory filings show amounted to more than 200 million shares, or about 8.3 percent of the company's outstanding shares, as of last year. The shares currently would be worth more than $8 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway also disclosed Tuesday that it had doubled its holdings in Wells Fargo to $5.35 billion and now owns a 5.6 percent stake in Anheuser-Busch, as part of required filings detailing the company's $42.7 billion stock portfolio.

Compiled by Seattle Times staff, Bloomberg News and The Associated Press