Business briefs
Flights slated to start between Pittsburgh and Scranton
A regional airline will start service between Pittsburgh International Airport and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in April. Regional Sky, based at the Wilkes-Barre airport, will offer the flights twice daily, Monday through Friday. Tickets are expected to run about $350 to $400 roundtrip. The exact date for the start of the flight will be decided next month. Jim Gallagher, Regional Sky president, said a survey of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton community found high interest in a flight to Pittsburgh. Separately, Allegiant Air has suspended its flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Pittsburgh for the season because of weak demand resulting from Hurricane Maria in September.
Alcoa to permanently close idled Texas smelter plant
Alcoa disclosed it expects to take an 18-cent per share charge in the fourth quarter because of its decision to permanently close its Rockdale, Texas, smelter and to sell an Italian smelter to that country’s economic development agency. The Texas plant has not operated since 2008, while the Italian facility was closed in 2014.
Lawrenceville company signs deal with Oakland startup
Lawrenceville-based Helomics Corp. has signed a services agreement with Ariel Precision Medicine Inc. to support the further commercial application of Ariel’s genomic
assay, PancreasDx. Ariel, a startup based in Oakland, is developing tools to enable early treatment of complex chronic diseases, and Helomics provides personalized medicine solutions for clients in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
F.N.B. Corp. adds pair to its board of directors
F.N.B. Corp. said it elected two new members to its board of directors. They are Mary Jo Dively, who is vice president and general counsel for Carnegie Mellon University, and Pamela Bena, who is vice president of finance for Heeter Printing Co. Inc.
Home Depot’s online push continues
Home Depot is buying online retailer The Company Store, moving forward with aggressive plans to protect itself from competitors like Amazon.com. The Atlanta company said this month it would more closely link its stores with online services and home delivery. Home Depot has escaped the decimation other retailers have been subjected to with Amazon disrupting sales everywhere, but CEO Craig Menear has vowed to meet customers where they are. Home Depot expects its website to surpass 1.8 billion visits this year. The Company Store sells textiles and home decor.