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BRIEFLY Winnebago names Toro executive as its next CEO

BRIEFLY

Winnebago names Toro executive as its next CEO

Winnebago found its next CEO a short drive away, at the lawnmower company Toro.

The two companies, about 125 miles apart and on opposite sides of the Iowa-Minnesota border, said that Michael Happe, Toro's group vice president for residential and contractor business, will become CEO of the recreational vehicle manufacturer. He takes the job on Jan. 18.

Winnebago said in August, when it announced the retirement of CEO Randy Potts, that former chief executive Robert Olson would return to serve as interim replacement. But he stepped down two months later. The Forest City, Iowa, company then named Chairman Lawrence Erickson as interim CEO.

Shares of Winnebago Industries Inc. are up slightly with the broader market in Monday morning trading.

The Toro Co. is based in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Southwest to pay $2.8 million to settle FAA lawsuit

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a lawsuit by the federal government over fuselage repairs that a contractor performed on dozens of planes.

The Justice Department said Monday that Southwest also agreed to pay up to $5.5 million in additional penalties if it fails to improve oversight of contractors it hires to perform maintenance work.

The Federal Aviation Administration sued Southwest in November 2014 in federal district court in Seattle, and the case was scheduled to go to trial next March.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the settlement give Southwest strong incentives to correct problems discovered by FAA investigators.

The government asked the court to let it fine Southwest $25,000 to $27,500 for each time one of the planes flew before the maintenance work was done properly.

In court filings, Southwest had denied all of the FAA allegations and called some of them hyperbole.

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