Pittsburgh airport will add 2nd direct flight to Toronto

Pittsburgh airport will add 2nd direct flight to Toronto

PITTSBURGH

Air Canada will no longer be the only airline at Pittsburgh International Airport offering daily direct flights to Toronto.

Porter Airlines, a Toronto-based regional airline, will start offering two daily flights from Pittsburgh to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in September, making it the fourth airline this year to announce service at the Pittsburgh airport.

Airport officials say the Toronto City airport’s proximity to the city could be more convenient for business travelers.

Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis says the new service has been in talks for about a year. She says travelers have wanted improved service to Toronto and other Canadian cities. Porter offers connecting flights to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. Roundtrip fares from Pittsburgh will start at $286.

Ex-Qualcomm exec sent to prison for insider trading

SAN DIEGO

A former Qualcomm Inc. executive was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison and fined $500,000 for an insider trading scheme to profit off the wireless technology company’s confidential information and then covering up his crimes.

Jing Wang, 52, the former global business operations president, pleaded guilty in July to charges of insider trading, money laundering and obstruction of justice in the case that ended in convictions for several Qualcomm employees.

Wang made three trades based on insider information, starting when he bought $277,000 in Qualcomm stock before the company announced a dividend increase and stock repurchase.

US opens probe of Ford F-150 power brake failures

dETROIT

U.S. safety regulators are investigating complaints that the power brake assist can fail on some Ford F-150 pickup trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the probe covers about 250,000 pickups from the 2011 and 2012 model years with 3.5-liter six-cylinder turbocharged engines.

The agency says in documents posted on its website Friday that it has 32 complaints alleging that electric vacuum assist pumps can fail, causing loss of power brakes and increased braking effort in traffic. Two crashes were reported but no injuries.

Shell awaits final drilling permits

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

One Royal Dutch Shell offshore drill rig is headed to Alaska and a second is poised to leave, despite lacking final federal permits that would allow exploratory drilling and possible confirmation of rich oil reserves under the Chukchi Sea.

A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell PLC said that’s routine. But an attorney for Oceana, one of dozens of groups objecting to Arctic offshore drilling, said seeing Shell’s flotilla sail north puts pressure on federal agencies to sign off on the permits.

Associated Press