Independence lands 500 Cessna jobs

Cessna Aircraft Co. said Monday it would assemble its new Citation Mustang business jet in Independence, Kan., bringing 500 jobs to the southeast Kansas town.

“The Independence-based Cessna team has proven that they are up to the challenge of building the world’s newest and best introductory business jet,” said Cessna chief executive Jack Pelton.

Cessna currently employs about 350 people in Independence, where it produces six single-engine piston aircraft models.

The company’s plant in Independence was selected over its facilities in Wichita, where the company builds its other Citation models.

Cessna already has taken more than 200 orders for the jet, with the first delivery scheduled for 2006.

Investigation

Shareholders seek to end Russian oil standoff

A group of shareholders that control Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, have offered their stock to the government in exchange for the release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yukos’ former chief.

Leonid Nevzlin said that he and other core shareholders of Group Menatep — a holding company — had offered to turn over their stake in Yukos to the government if it agreed to let Khodorkovsky out of jail.

“Life and liberty are more valuable than shares,” Nevzlin, believed to own 3.5 percent of Yukos through Menatep, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Khodorkovsky, who resigned as Yukos chief shortly after his Oct. 25 arrest on fraud and tax evasion charges, has remained in custody awaiting trial. Courts have repeatedly dismissed petitions by lawyers of Khodorkovsky to free him on bail, and his supporters have alleged his arrest was politically motivated.

International

Paris airport strike slows French travel

Air traffic controllers at Paris’ second-largest airport began a strike Monday, forcing the cancellation of nearly 60 percent of flights, the airport authority said.

Two leading trade unions called for the walkout at Orly airport, which is to last through Friday, as part of protests against plans to reorganize air traffic control services.

The disruptions, which had been announced, mainly affected domestic flights, according to ADP, the Paris airports authority. Paris’ main international airport, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, was not affected.

Only about 120 flights were expected to take off or land Monday at Orly, compared with about 300 on a normal day of traffic, ADP said.

Some 70 percent of travelers were expected to reach their planned destinations as airlines reorganized their passenger lists to cope with the walkout, the authority said.