Herb Chambers gets OK to split Burlington dealership into two buildings

Delta Air Lines set records for passengers and revenue over the summer and benefited from cheaper jet fuel, boosting its third-quarter profit 13 percent to $1.5 billion. However, Delta offered a cautious fourth-quarter forecast that fell short of Wall Street expectations, and the airline’s shares dropped in trading before Thursday’s opening bell. CEO Ed Bastian said travel demand remains strong. ‘‘It was a good summer at Delta, the busiest summer in our history,’’ he said in an interview. ‘‘The consumer outlook is strong. Looking into the holiday period, the bookings look good.’’ Atlanta-based Delta has been the most profitable US airline in recent years, and it regularly beats its closest rivals for fewer flight delays and cancellations. This year it has benefited from the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max — Delta doesn’t own any, but American, United, and Southwest do, and they have been forced to cut thousands of flights from their schedules. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Overall consumer prices were unchanged in September as a big decline in energy costs offset small gains in other areas. The flat reading in its Consumer Price Index for September followed a tiny 0.1 percent August increase and left prices over the past 12 months rising at a modest annual rate of 1.7 percent, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The Federal Reserve has cut its key policy rate twice this year, giving as one major reason the failure of inflation to hit the Fed’s 2 percent goal for annual price increases. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Two years into the #MeToo movement, an unprecedented number of American workers are required to receive mandatory sexual harassment training, the result of a handful of new state regulations aimed at creating safer workplaces. Now one in five workers in the US lives in a state that requires employers to offer sexual harassment training, up from one in 100 two years ago. New York State’s law, which took effect this week, requires companies to educate employees on what constitutes harassment and make it easy to find and file complaint forms. Massachusetts law encourages, but does not require, employers to conduct sexual harassment training. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

A lack of black executives in the jobs that most often lead to the C-suite risks leading to an even greater decline in African-American chief executives, a new study finds. Fewer than 10 percent of senior executives in so-called “profit and loss jobs,” those that operate units, at the largest US companies are black, according to an analysis by executive recruiter Korn Ferry. The study was conducted for the Executive Leadership Council, which advocates for promotion of black executives into the top executive ranks and boardrooms.
— BLOOMBERG NEWS

The National Rifle Association won’t have to pay Oliver North’s legal bills, a New York judge ruled, after North was ousted as its president amid allegations of financial malfeasance and an attempted leadership coup. Justice Joel Cohen said Thursday that the gun rights group isn’t required under its internal rules or state bylaws to indemnify North for expenses he’s incurring as a witness in legal matters triggered by the infighting, including a probe of the NRA’s nonprofit status by New York’s attorney general. The turmoil began when North alleged that Wayne LaPierre, the organization’s longtime leader and public face, used the NRA to enrich himself, an accusation LaPierre denied. North was accused of trying to overthrow him. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

Applications for unemployment benefits in the US unexpectedly declined to a three-week low despite a strike by General Motors Co. workers that continues to reverberate through supporting industries. Jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 210,000 in the week ended Oct. 5, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 220,000. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, edged up to 213,750. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares soared Thursday after the company named Target Corp.’s head merchant Mark Tritton as its new chief executive officer. Analysts were broadly encouraged by the announcement given Tritton’s successful tenure at Target. Analysts also cautioned that a Bed Bath & Beyond turnaround won’t be easy since there’s little room for error following a long period of sales erosion. The stock climbed as much as 26 percent, the biggest intraday advance since March, before closing up more than 21 percent. Shares have now erased their year-to-date loss and our up about 10 percent, after five straight years of negative performance. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure arm agreed to buy German wind farm operator PNE Wind AG for 300 million euros ($331 million), highlighting investor appetite for renewable energy. PNE Wind’s board accepted a bid of 4 euros a share from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, which intends to delist the stock, according to a statement Thursday that confirms an earlier Bloomberg News report. Demand for renewable energy is rising amid falling prices and an investor push to curb emissions and fight climate change. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

PG&E Corp. shares dropped nearly 30 percent as it grappled with a court ruling that threatens to put the fate of the bankrupt power giant in the hands of outsiders and perhaps wipe out the value of the stock. US Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali on late Wednesday stripped the utility of exclusive control over its reorganization process. The decision escalates an already-heated battle for control of the largest utility bankruptcy in US history. Montali agreed to let bondholders including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Elliott Management Corp. pitch their own restructuring plan alongside PG&E’s, so they can both come up with ways the utility could deal with an estimated $30 billion in wildfire liabilities. The damages, tied to blazes that its equipment ignited, forced the utility to file for Chapter 11 in January. — BLOOMBERG NEWS