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Top stories: New Toyota probe, Airbus takes on Boeing, airport kiosks go high tech

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Federal safety officials have opened an investigation into two models of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles after drivers complained that their cars inexplicably stalled in traffic, sometimes at highway speeds.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted a document this week launching the investigation into Toyota’s Matrix and Corolla cars. It’s the latest in a string of quality-related issues for the Japanese automaker in recent months.

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Read the story by Ken Bensinger and Ralph Vartabedian here


Reporter Bill Hennigan, in the video above, says European plane maker Airbus has stepped up publicizing its investments in the U.S. as it competes against American rival Boeing for one of the Pentagon’s largest contracts in decades. The Air Force recently began its third attempt to award a $35-billion contract for 179 aerial refueling tankers.

Read the story here

Travel and tourism reporter Hugo Martin says airlines are responding to the growing frustration with airport lines by adding thousands of self-serve kiosks so passengers can print boarding passes, confirm flights and change seats on the touch-screen computers.

At Los Angeles International Airport, the newest kiosks also print luggage tags, provide airport maps and let passengers buy seat upgrades and make hotel reservations.

The most state-of-the-art kiosks can even let passengers get on a plane without ever printing a boarding pass. These new kiosks send a digital message to a passenger’s cellphone. The passenger can open an attachment to the phone message and let the creener or airline attendant scan the bar code that appears on the screen.

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--Pat Benson

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