WASHINGTON/DETROIT, April 14 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and U.S. safety regulators have agreed to a greatly expanded recall of the best-selling vehicle in North America, the Ford F-150 pickup truck, the regulators said on Thursday.

The expanded recall is for a possible short-circuit that could cause airbags to deploy unexpectedly, and involves nearly 1.2 million F-150 pickup trucks and 16,000 Lincoln Mark LT vehicles, said the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This is in addition to a previous recall of 144,000 Ford F-150 trucks, bringing the total for this issue to 1.33 million vehicles, NHTSA said.

F-150 is the primary model of the F-series pickup trucks, the best-selling vehicles in North America for the past 34 years. Pickup trucks and SUVs generally create more profit for automakers than do smaller cars.

Ford said it knows of no crashes or injuries caused by the issue. It will begin notifying vehicle owners in May to bring the pickup trucks or Lincolns into dealers for repair at no cost. Repairs will take less than half a day, Ford said.

But owners are asked to bring in their vehicles right away if their airbag warning light is illuminated, Ford said. If the light is ignored, in some circumstances, the driver’s side front airbag could deploy unexpectedly.

Ford said the airbag warning typically is illuminated for “an extended period” before the driver’s side front airbag surprises a driver by deploying. Drivers should have time to safely take the vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln/Mercury dealer if they do so when the warning signal is first lit, Ford said.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, April 12 (Reuters) – U.S. airlines may set a record for fuel costs when they report quarterly results in coming weeks, paying about $3 billion more this year so far and muddying what had been a strengthening recovery.

Estimates calculated by the Air Transport Association show that fuel as a percentage of operating expenses could hit between 35 and 40 percent, compared with the high-water mark of 36 percent set in the third quarter of 2008.

“We’ve got to be awfully close to that,” John Heimlich, the trade group’s chief economist, told Reuters in an interview. “That wouldn’t be established, though, until we see them report out.”

The ATA projects the 2011 first-quarter fuel bill will be about $3 billion higher than for the year-ago period — a rise from $8.8 billion to $11.8 billion, or about 35 percent.

Analyst Helane Becker with Dahlman Rose & Co downgraded the sector on Monday, saying airline management could not “catch a break” between bad winter weather and soaring fuel prices.

“In a volatile environment, even with airlines moving prices up almost weekly, (airlines) cannot keep up with the recent moves in Brent (crude),” Becker wrote in a note to clients of the London benchmark oil price that hit a 32-month high on Friday.

Moreover, Becker said a jet fuel price over $3.41 per gallon “does not bode well” for margins for the second quarter, and most likely the third. Airline shares, she said, are overvalued.

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) – Long-haul trucks from Mexico would be allowed to operate throughout the United States for up to three years under a pilot plan aimed at reviving a politically sensitive trade program stalled for years.

The U.S. Transportation Department released a proposal on Friday outlining steps Mexican trucking firms would be required to follow to gain access to American roads beyond border areas where they currently are permitted to operate.

Labor groups who fear losing trucking jobs and their allies in Congress, some of who also opposed certain trade provisions, have for the better part of a decade blocked all but token efforts to put the trucking plan in place.

A previous pilot program ended in 2009 after Congress terminated funding.

Cross-border trucking was a key provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada that went into effect in 1994.

Business groups, including the biggest trucking firms, support efforts to restart the program, saying it will help re-establish normal trading patterns and increase the flow of goods.

Smaller heavy-duty truckers, however, fiercely oppose the plan on grounds it would hurt their operations – including lost business and new costs.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – United Airlines Holdings, the parent of United Airlines, is taking another run at expanding its Japan service, irritating Delta that has suspended flights at Tokyo’s nearest airport due to last month’s massive earthquake.

The effort by United, which continues its post-merger integration with Continental Airlines, is an indicator of the sector’s confidence in the potential for Japanese travel to rebound from the March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

United asked the U.S. Transportation Department last week to be considered for access rights to Tokyo’s Haneda airport in the event Delta Air Lines does not resume flights.

Delta responded that it was not abandoning Haneda, that its current flight suspension met U.S. rules, and that United’s petition omitted key facts.

More than 7 million passengers flew between the United States and its territories and Japan last year on all airlines, U.S. government figures showed.

“I think if you look at the Kobe earthquake (in 1995), you will find the market recovered after two months, so most of the airlines are hopeful of a similar result,” said Helane Becker, an analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co.

Becker noted an uptick in aircraft passenger loads from a dramatic drop in the days after the quake, and said business in the second half of the year is expected to pick up strongly.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – Airlines flying older jets are facing tougher, more time-consuming U.S. inspections after the fuselage of a Southwest Airlines (LUV.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jet ruptured last week, leaving a 5-foot hole (1.52 meters) and questions about how companies and regulators will manage aircraft fatigue.

Addressing metal fatigue has become more of an issue for the industry as the life of commercial planes is extended by structural and cabin refurbishing, new engines and cockpit technology. Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has faced this on its older 737, or “classic” fleet. The ruptured Southwest jet was a Boeing 737-300.

“There have been issues with this in the past,” said Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel, noting that the design of the 737-300 series was changed in 1993 due to fatigue issues. He said Boeing had not seen this kind of incident since those changes were made.

The modifications were aimed at preventing large tears in the fuselage skin, like the one that occurred last Friday on the Southwest jet while it was en route from Phoenix, Arizona, to Sacramento, California, carrying 118 passengers. The plane made an emergency landing at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station in Arizona.

Boeing engineer Paul Richter said Boeing did not expect the type of fatigue suspected in the Southwest plane to occur until much later in the jet’s life. It is 15.

A review of FAA records showed that since 2002 the agency has issued six directives regarding inspections for fuselage-related cracking involving older model 737s, including the 300, 400, and 500 series. Those models were targeted in an FAA order on Tuesday for urgent electromagnetic inspections on heavily used models made between 1994 and 2003.

A 2009 inspection order was in response to another incident involving a Southwest jet with a smaller hole in its fuselage. And Southwest paid a $7.5 million FAA fine for operating 737s without required fuselage inspections in 2006-07.

WASHINGTON/ATLANTA, April 5 (Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Tuesday ordered airlines to inspect older model Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 737 aircraft for cracks, a step prompted by a Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jet that landed with a fuselage hole.

The most urgent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirement covers about 175 of the most heavily used planes worldwide.

Checks of those jets must be completed within five days of the airline receiving the order and repeated before they total another 500 takeoffs and landings.

Eventually, the agency wants checks on more of the “classic” 737-300, 400 and 500 planes to undergo the time-consuming electromagnetic metal fatigue inspections before they reach a certain number of takeoffs and landings.

The inspections aim to detect cracks along joints in the fuselage that bond layers of aircraft skin which cannot be seen visually.

Paul Richter, chief project engineer for 737 “classic” at Boeing, told a media briefing on Tuesday the fatigue cracks suspected in the Southwest rupture occurred sooner than Boeing expected in the life of the plane.

Boeing issued a bulletin to its operators outlining the inspection requirements that were narrower and less stringent than the FAA directive.

ATLANTA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The government will order emergency checks of some Boeing Co 737s for the kind of fatigue cracks that prompted Southwest Airlines Co to ground dozens of planes and cancel hundreds of flights after a hole opened in one of its jets.

The Federal Aviation Administration directive on 737-300, 400, and 500 fuselage inspections, expected on Tuesday, will apply to the most frequently flown models. It involves a time consuming and repetitive electromagnetic check not previously required for the area of the plane in question.

“This action is designed to detect cracking in a specific part of the aircraft that cannot be spotted with visual inspection,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement on Monday.

Boeing promised its own bulletin similar to the FAA order and will detail steps for inspecting joints in the fuselage that bond layers of aircraft skin.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating Friday’s incident in which a 5-foot (1.52 meter) hole opened on Southwest Flight 812 at 36,000 feet, will look to see if there is a wider problem.

But safety board member Robert Sumwalt said investigators believe the FAA and Boeing actions should take care of it.

“We have no reason to believe there are deficiencies in the fleet,” Sumwalt told reporters at a news conference in Yuma, Arizona, near the military base where the stricken Southwest jet heading from Phoenix to Sacramento landed safely.

ATLANTA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co will recommended that airlines throughout the world check older 737 aircraft for the kind of fatigue cracks that prompted Southwest Airlines Co to cancel hundreds of flights.

The manufacturer said in a statement on Monday it is preparing a service bulletin for targeted fuselage inspections of 737-300s. More than 900 are in service around the world, but the directive will only apply to more heavily used aircraft.

Southwest voluntarily launched checks of more than 100 of those models after one landed in Arizona on Friday with a hole in its fuselage.

The airline canceled 600 flights over the weekend and 70 on Monday. More than half of the planes grounded for inspections have returned to service. Subsurface fuselage cracks were found on three, with inspections expected to wrap up on Tuesday.

Analysts expect some lost revenue, but no lasting fallout financially from the disruption, which comes as Southwest works to close its buyout of AirTran Airways, a unit of AirTran Holdings Inc.

“I don’t think there is anything systematic or persistent here,” said James Higgins, an analyst with Soleil Securities. “This is more noteworthy for its headline generation than for its likely damage to the company.”

Southwest led a mostly negative trading day for U.S. airlines, but pared its losses and was off 2.3 percent to $12.37 on the New York Exchange.

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) – The Obama administration renewed its push on Monday for tougher pipeline safety regulation following accidents in recent years that killed dozens of people and disrupted energy markets.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sought to revive legislation that would put more teeth into inspections and fines that critics claim are woefully inadequate for the size and importance of the U.S. oil and gas network.

LaHood also called on pipeline owners and operators to review their networks to identify any areas at risk for accidents and expedite repairs and replacement work, if necessary.

“I am taking on this critical issue to avoid future tragedies,” LaHood said.

LaHood also said he planned to convene a pipeline safety meeting in Washington on April 18 with state and industry officials and other groups to discuss ways for improving the safety and efficiency of pipeline infrastructure.

A web of mostly underground pipelines in the United States is run by 3,000 companies and transports most of the U.S. oil and gas supply.

The Transportation Department oversees the largest lines, while state regulators monitor others.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives approved sweeping aviation legislation on Friday despite a White House threat to veto the measure over a labor provision favorable to airline management.

The chamber voted 223-196 to approve the bill, which also cuts $4 billion from the proposed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) budget — a reduction that the agency said could disrupt its air traffic operations.

“The federal government can do more with less, and this bill does so by requiring the FAA to identify savings in a manner that does not negatively impact aviation safety,” said John Mica, author of the legislation as chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

The bill lays out long-term government aviation priorities and funding formulas for FAA operations. It also includes resources for the FAA’s next steps in modernizing the air traffic system from radar to a network of satellites.

The House bill would have to be reconciled with similar legislation approved by the U.S. Senate.

Negotiations are expected to be difficult enough, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats in charge in the Senate. But these talks, congressional and other insiders say, will be harder because of a disputed labor proposal.

The Republican-led bill seeks to restore a rule that was changed last year, and airline and railroad unions say the rule would make it harder for them to organize.