Local & State

Upstate

BorgWarner expansion bringing 30 new Seneca jobs

SENECA BorgWarner, a global automotive powertrain supplier, said Thursday it would expand its current facility in Oconee County, creating 30 new jobs. The company will expand its drivetrain manufacturing facility in Seneca in an effort to add capacity for its transfer case products. For job opportunities, call the SCWorks center in Seneca at (864) 882-5638.

lowcountry

Air India takes delivery of first Boeing 787 from North Charleston

NORTH CHARLESTON Air India has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787 from the company’s delivery center in North Charleston. The plane was delivered on Thursday and the company said the 787 will be flown to India on Friday. The plane was assembled in Everett, Wash., and then flown to South Carolina. The company earlier this year rolled out the first 787 made in South Carolina, although that plane has not yet been delivered. Boeing opened its $750 million assembly plant in North Charleston last year. Air India is the fifth airline worldwide to take delivery of a 787. It has 26 more on order.

Nation & World

Amazon updating Kindle Fire and lowering price

SANTA MONICA, Calif. Amazon is updating its Kindle Fire tablet computer as it steps up competition with Apple’s iPad. It will cost $159, down from $199 for the old model. It will start shipping Sept. 14. Amazon also refreshed its line of stand-alone e-readers. The Fire is an effort to take a larger share of a tablet computer market dominated by Apple’s iPad. It could help Amazon.com Inc. boost sales of digital goods such as e-books and movies. The announcement was made at a former airplane hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. Amazon has pursued the strategy of selling lower-priced tablets at razor-thin, if any, profit margins in order to boost sales of digital items from its online store. The Kindle Fire has a smaller screen than the iPad.

Boeing seeks labor concessions on engineers in union contract talks

SEATTLE Boeing Co. says it may rely more on engineers at less-expensive sites outside its Seattle jet- manufacturing hub unless it wins competitive labor costs in union contract talks. While the planemaker is keeping a renewed focus on engineering supported by Jim Albaugh, the former commercial planes chief who pushed to empower the group after delays on the 787 Dreamliner, the core doesn’t have to be in Puget Sound, Mike Delaney, the company’s chief engineer, said Wednesday. Boeing’s engineers not only design new planes, they inspect those being built and have to sign off on the work before aircraft are delivered. Their contract expires Oct. 6, and any labor action would interrupt work flow during a record production increase, so the planemaker must balance that risk with negotiating cost savings. Talks so far have been contentious, with disagreement strongest over Boeing’s plan to switch new engineers to a 401(k)-style retirement benefit rather than a pension. The Associated Press

and Bloomberg contributed.