AIRLINES

Northwest to Lay Off 480: Northwest Airlines plans to lay off about 240 mechanics and 240 North American reservations agents as part of its efforts to lower costs. The 480 layoffs amount to about 1% of the company’s 47,000 workers. They come on top of 800 job eliminations announced early in the summer. Northwest said it is able to reduce its mechanic work force because it replaced many old airplanes with newer models that don’t need to be repaired as frequently.