DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Monday it would invest $50 million upgrading a Chicago facility to partially assemble hybrid electric SUVs and vehicles for police use, creating 450 jobs.
The plant currently modifies vehicles for police use. That work will be transferred to a nearby facility.
After retooling, the new production line will later this year start partially assembling hybrid versions of the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle and the luxury Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring SUV.
It will also partially assemble the Police Interceptor SUV.
On Friday, Ford said it would lay off about 200 workers in September at a Canadian manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ontario, with more layoffs possible in January, because of slowing sales of the sedans that the plant manufactures.
Overall, U.S. new vehicle sales are expected to fall this year, although pickup trucks and SUVs remain more popular than traditional passenger cars.
Last week, Ford also kicked off talks on a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers union, with job security, healthcare costs and the use of temporary workers expected to be major sticking points.
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Peter Cooney)
PEORIA, Ill., July 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Pioneer Railcorp (OTC: PRRR, “Pioneer”), a railroad holding company that owns short-line railroads and several other railroad-related businesses including a railroad equipment company and a contract switching services company, today announced that its shareholders have approved the previously announced definitive merger agreement with BRX Transportation Holdings, LLC (“BRX”), an entity formed by Brookhaven Rail Partners (“Brookhaven”), Related Infrastructure (“Related”) and Stephens Capital Partners LLC (“Stephens”). The proposal to approve the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby was approved with voting results as follows:
Under the terms of the merger agreement, BRX will acquire through merger all of the outstanding shares of Pioneer’s Class A common stock. Shareholders other than Heartland will receive $18.81 per share in cash and the Heartland shares will be cancelled without consideration.
Consummation of the merger remains subject to various closing conditions, including operating performance by Pioneer within a specified working capital floor and debt ceiling. Subject to satisfaction of the closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in late July 2019. Upon closing of the transaction, Pioneer will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of BRX and its Class A common stock will cease trading on the OTC Markets.
Arnold & Porter is acting as legal advisor to BRX in this transaction. BMO Capital Markets is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Pioneer in connection with this transaction and Briggs and Morgan, P.A. is acting as Pioneer’s legal advisor.
About Pioneer Pioneer Railcorp is the parent company of 15 short-line common carrier railroad operations, an equipment leasing company, two service companies and a contract services switching company. Pioneer and its subsidiaries operate in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. For more information on Pioneer, please visit www.Pioneer-Railcorp.com
About Brookhaven Brookhaven Rail Partners is an affiliate of Denver-based Brookhaven Capital Partners, a privately held, real estate and infrastructure investment and management firm. Brookhaven and its principals have a 25-year track record of investing in, operating and developing critical transportation assets that support industry, and promote new economic development, community investment, and job creation. For more information on Brookhaven, please visit www.BrookhavenPartners.com
CHICAGO, July 1 (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines expects it will have to remove the grounded Boeing Co 737 MAX jets from its flying schedule beyond the current Oct. 1 re-entry date following the discovery of a fresh safety issue, Chief Executive Gary Kelly told employees on Monday.
Last week, Boeing said that it would take until at least September to solve 737 MAX software issues – later than airlines had been expecting – after U.S. aviation regulators uncovered a new problem during simulator sessions.
“I’m sure this will cause us to have to take the MAX out of the schedule beyond Oct. 1,” Kelly said in an internal update, adding that the company would also see “what other modifications we might need to make our plans for this year because it’s obviously extending well beyond what I had hoped.”
Kelly did not elaborate on the possible modifications. So far, the Texas-based airline has tried to substitute its MAX routes with spare aircraft but has still been forced to cancel about 115 daily flights.
American Airlines Group and United Airlines Holdings , the other two U.S. carriers that operate the 737 MAX, have removed the jetliner from their flying schedules until early September.
The three airlines are expected to provide more details on the financial toll of a prolonged MAX grounding during second quarter results later in July.
Boeing’s fast-selling narrowbody was grounded worldwide in March following two deadly crashes within five months.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
CHICAGO – Amtrak today marked the 90th
anniversary of the Empire Builder,
which travels across the country’s northern tier, allowing customers to
experience the grandeur of the Mississippi River Valley, Great Plains, Rockies
and the Cascade Range. Daily service between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest
provides a vital intercity travel option connecting more than 40 communities in
eight states.
Sleeping car customers received wooden train whistles from Amtrak Guest Rewards and all customers departing Chicago received commemorative certificates signed by Amtrak President & CEO Richard Anderson. Prints of a new Empire Builder painting by railroad artist J. Craig Thorpe are available in the Amtrak store and, for a limited time, other items to recognize the anniversary of the service are also available from Amtrak.
Inaugurated by the Great Northern Railway (GN), the first westbound Empire Builder departed Chicago on the evening of June 10, 1929, but it was christened the next day in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the GN had its headquarters and where its mainline to Seattle began. The premier service was named for James J. Hill–the “Empire Builder,” who in the late 19th century founded what became the GN.
The GN and three railroads merged in 1970 to form the
Burlington Northern, which continued to operate the Empire Builder until May 1, 1971, when newly-formed Amtrak took it
over and changed the route to include Milwaukee by using what is now the
Canadian Pacific Railway between Chicago and St. Paul. In October 1979, it
became the first overnight train to be assigned bi-level Superliner® railcars,
setting a higher travel standard that continues today.
Last year, 428,854 customers rode the Amtrak Empire Builder, Trains 7/27 & 8/28.
Historic “Flight for the Planet” combines the use of biofuel, zero-waste measures and carbon offsets to significantly minimize impact on the environment.
CHICAGO, June 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — United Airlines, a longstanding leader among all global carriers in environmental sustainability, made history today – World Environment Day – with the departure of the Flight for the Planet, the most eco-friendly commercial flight of its kind in the history of aviation. On the Flight for the Planet, United became the first known airline to demonstrate all of the following key actions on a single commercial flight: utilization of sustainable aviation biofuel; zero cabin waste efforts; carbon offsetting; and operational efficiencies.
United is using the Flight for the Planet to evaluate key measures of flying as sustainably as possible using the airline’s current technology, resources and fuel-saving procedures. The flight departed from gate B12 at United’s hometown hub of Chicago O’Hare for its “eco-hub” in Los Angeles, where sustainable aviation biofuel has helped power all the airline’s flights from the Southern California hub since 2016.
“The historic Flight for the Planet showcases United’s philosophy of working together to find new and innovative ways to lead us into a more sustainable future,” said Scott Kirby, United’s president. “As an airline, we see our environment from a unique perspective every day and we know we must do our part to protect our planet and our skies.”
The Flight for the Planet further illustrates United’s commitment to its bold pledge to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2050.
CHICAGO, May 21 (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co’s mechanics union said on Tuesday its members had overwhelmingly voted to ratify a tentative contract agreement with the airline, ending seven years of labor negotiations fraught with legal disputes and flight disruptions.
The agreement came a day after rival U.S. carrier American Airlines Group Inc said it was filing a lawsuit against its own mechanics alleging an illegal slowdown aimed at disrupting operations to improve their position in labor talks, which began in 2015.
Analysts have highlighted labor issues as a main concern for airlines this year.
Mechanics at both American and Southwest have complained that the airlines are moving to outsource maintenance work that has traditionally been done in-house.
In a statement on its website, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents around 2,500 Southwest mechanics, said about 95 percent of its members had voted to accept the labor agreement.
Separately on Tuesday, American Airlines’ mechanics association said it was “ready and willing” to negotiate a fair contract.
“We would much prefer to be at the negotiating table than in a legal battle brought on by American,” the TWU-IAM Association said in a statement.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski Editing by Susan Thomas and Bill Berkrot)
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 767-300ER aircraft takes off from Zurich Airport January 9, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
CHICAGO (Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc said on Monday it has filed a lawsuit against two unions representing its mechanics, accusing the workers of an illegal slowdown aimed at disrupting operations to improve their position in prolonged labor talks.
In a statement, American said there had been 650 flight cancellations and more than 1,500 maintenance delays as a result of the alleged slowdown.
American has been in contract talks with the Transport Workers Union of America and the International Association of Machinists since 2015.
The unions did not immediately return a request for comment.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
PEORIA, Ill., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Pioneer Railcorp (OTC: PRRR, “Pioneer”), a railroad holding company that owns short-line railroads and several other railroad-related businesses including a railroad equipment company and a contract switching services company, and BRX Transportation Holdings, LLC (“BRX”), an entity formed by Brookhaven Rail Partners (“Brookhaven”) and Related Infrastructure (“Related”), announced entry into a definitive merger agreement under which BRX will acquire Pioneer for $18.81 per share in cash. The agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Pioneer’s independent directors, represents a premium of approximately 100.7% over Pioneer’s closing stock price on May 16, 2019, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the transaction.
“We look forward to this next chapter in Pioneer’s journey and anticipate it will have a bright future under new ownership,” said Mike Carr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer.
“We are excited to partner with Related Infrastructure and to have worked with Pioneer’s management and board on a transaction that brings great value to its shareholders, its customers, and the communities it serves. Pioneer fits perfectly with Brookhaven’s philosophy of identifying opportunities where our hands-on management expertise, proprietary value creation strategies, and deep industry relationships provide us with a competitive advantage and the ability to create value,” said Alex Yeros, Principal of Brookhaven.
Related Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Related Fund Management which has raised over $5 billion of capital across a variety of different investment vehicles and strategies, invests in companies that develop, operate and service transportation infrastructure throughout the United States. Andrew Right, Managing Partner of Related Infrastructure said, “We are pleased to partner with Brookhaven to build a rail-based infrastructure platform. We appreciate the work Mike Carr and his team have done to create the Pioneer portfolio of rail businesses. We look forward to working with Alex and the entire team at Brookhaven, an industry leading team with over 25 years of experience building businesses in the short-line rail industry to further drive expansion of the platform.”
Under the terms of the merger agreement, BRX will acquire through merger all of the outstanding shares of Pioneer’s Class A common stock. Shareholders other than Pioneer’s subsidiary, Heartland Rail Investments LLC, will receive $18.81 per share in cash and the Heartland shares will be canceled without consideration.
In connection with the execution of the merger agreement, certain stockholders of Pioneer, together holding a significant portion of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer, have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction under a voting and support agreement.
The consummation of the merger is subject to various closing conditions, including approval by Pioneer’s shareholders, Surface Transportation Board approval, and operating performance by Pioneer within a specified working capital floor and debt ceiling. The merger is not subject to a financing condition. Subject to satisfaction of the closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.
Arnold & Porter is acting as legal advisor to BRX in this transaction. BMO Capital Markets is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Pioneer in connection with this transaction and Briggs and Morgan, P.A. is acting as Pioneer’s legal advisor.
About Pioneer Pioneer Railcorp is the parent company of 17 short-line common carrier railroad operations, an equipment leasing company, two service companies and a contract services switching company. Pioneer and its subsidiaries operate in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. For more information on Pioneer, please visit: http://www.Pioneer-Railcorp.com
About Brookhaven Brookhaven Rail Partners is an affiliate of Denver-based Brookhaven Capital Partners, a privately held, real estate and infrastructure investment and management firm. Brookhaven and its principals have a 25-year track record of investing in, operating and developing critical transportation assets that support industry, and promote new economic development, community investment, and job creation. For more information on Brookhaven, please visit: http://www.BrookhavenPartners.com
CHICAGO (December 10, 2018) — Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today the opening of Hyatt Regency Seattle, located in the heart of downtown at 808 Howell Street and near some of Seattle’s top attractions including the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Pike Place Market. With its sprawling, dynamic event space and number of guestrooms, Hyatt Regency Seattle is the largest hotel in the Pacific Northwest and new premier destination for meetings and events in the region. It joins two other Seattle-area Hyatt Regency hotels and offers a one-stop experience that puts everything guests need right at their fingertips.
The 45-story hotel features 1,260 guestrooms, all of which are furnished with floor-to-ceiling windows, sizeable modern bathrooms, 65-inch TVs and a collection of black-and-white photography, shot by six Seattle-based photographers, highlighting the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest region. The hotel also offers guests a StayFit® Fitness Center, outfitted with Peloton bikes and other Technogym state-of-the-art cardio and strength equipment, and an expansive Hyatt Regency Club lounge with fire pits and wraparound patio that provides guests with stellar views of downtown Seattle.
Located just two short blocks from the Washington State Convention Center and adjacent to The Summit, the planned convention center expansion building slated to open Spring 2022, Hyatt Regency Seattle offers more than 103,000 square feet of dynamic meeting and event space for a variety of gatherings, ranging from intimate meetings to larger conferences and weddings.
“Progress is all around us,” says Hyatt Regency Seattle General Manager Tom Wolf. “No other addition to Seattle’s vastly updated cityscape is more important for Seattle tourism than the new, very visible contemporary building right in the middle of town: Hyatt Regency Seattle. With the opening of the largest hotel in the Pacific Northwest this year, Seattle will finally have the meeting space options it needs.”
Consistent with the Pacific Northwest theme throughout the property, meeting and event spaces are named after bodies of water located throughout Washington state:
The Columbia and Regency Ballrooms each offer 19,000+ square feet of space with 24- and 30-foot high ceilings, respectively.
Two junior ballrooms: Elwha Ballroom is 7,200 square feet, while Quinault Ballroom has 3,400 square feet of functional meeting space.
The high-end Deschutes Executive Boardroom, featuring a private balcony that can accommodate 24 people.
Eight pre-function spaces, each ranging from 4,292 to 7,022 square feet, which are flooded in natural light.
An additional 46 meeting rooms, ranging from 600 to 1,900 square feet, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows.
All meetings rooms are outfitted with audiovisual equipment, multiple electrical, microphone and phone outlets, as well as blackout blinds and T1 high-speed Internet with dedicated bandwidth capabilities.
The new Hyatt Regency Seattle also offers guests three on-site dining experiences:
Andare, a fast-casual Italian-style trattoria, which features a variety of homemade pasta dishes, salads and pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven
Daniel’s Broiler, an upscale and locally renowned steakhouse owned by Schwartz Bros. Restaurants, which features USDA Prime steaks, seafood, an extensive wine list and a vast collection of whiskeys, as well as a piano bar
The Market, a 24-hour premium grab-and-go retail space with café seating, where guests can purchase freshly prepared hot and cold food and beverage items.
Built by local developer R.C. Hedreen Company, in collaboration with Seattle-based companies LMN Architects and Sellen Construction Group, the new hotel features elements that celebrate the Pacific Northwest region and can be seen throughout the property’s guestrooms and public spaces. Upon arriving, guests will notice the bright, open, and contemporary design, matched with floor-to-ceiling windows to let in as much natural light as possible, and purposefully selected, locally inspired art and photography.
R.C. Hedreen Company successfully builds and operates hotels in Seattle, and its portfolio includes Grand Hyatt Seattle and Hyatt Olive 8. To leave a lasting impact on the Pacific Northwest region with Hyatt Regency Seattle, local companies who understand Seattle real estate, LMN and Sellen, were brought in to collaborate, design and build the impressive sky-high hotel. LMN believes that architecture celebrates the inherent qualities of the region, community and site. Any new building functions in relationship to the fabric of its physical location and community of users, as well as its social, cultural and environmental context. Sellen is Seattle’s premiere builder – building communities, relationships and of course most of the significant buildings in town.
Additionally, Hyatt Regency Seattle is targeting LEED Gold Certification in 2019, which is the second highest green building rating in the world. As part of their efforts, Hyatt Regency Seattle has incorporated many sustainable elements into its guest amenities and overall design, including:
Premium large-format bath amenities in each guestroom bathroom, saving more than one million plastic bottles in waste.
Installing a light-colored roof to reduce the urban heat-island effect.
Incorporating a highly efficient laundry system that captures both heat and water after use to reduce the need for additional energy to preheat incoming water to the laundry system.
For more information about Hyatt Regency Seattle or to book your accommodations, please visit hyattregencyseattle.com.
