Westwood call center has phone outage for 4 hours

NStar, the Boston gas and electric utility, lost all ability to take incoming customer-service calls for four hours yesterday morning after an AT&T Inc. cable failure, the company said. NStar spokeswoman Caroline Allen estimated that based on normal Monday call volumes, 2,000 customers were probably unable to reach NStar. Allen said the problem began about 9 a.m. and wasn't rectified until 1 p.m. when NStar brought in backup access from Verizon Communications Inc. to its Westwood call center. AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom confirmed "there was an intermittent issue with a piece of network equipment" but said it was fixed by midday. (Peter J. Howe)

THE NATION

Southwest Airlines Co., American Airlines, and six other US carriers have been ordered to inspect newer Boeing Co. 737s for possible loose parts following a fire that destroyed a China Airlines plane last week. The airlines have 24 days to check a portion of the wings for loose or missing parts, said Les Dorr, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. A loose wing-slat bolt that punctured the fuel tank was the likely cause of the Aug. 20 fire on a China Airlines Boeing 737-800, trade publication Air Transport World reported last week, citing Japanese safety investigators. (Bloomberg)

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. sued Kraft Foods Inc. charging that a new plastic container for Kraft's Maxwell House coffee brand infringes on patents for P&G's Folgers coffee container. P&G filed the suit in US District Court in San Francisco seeking to stop Kraft from selling coffee in the packaging that P&G says infringes its patents. A Kraft spokeswoman said she could not provide any details because Kraft had not been able to fully review the lawsuit. (AP)

Delta Air Lines Inc.'s incoming chief executive Richard Anderson will be paid an annual salary of $600,000 and could earn another $15 million in performance-based incentives, according to documents filed by the airline. Anderson was named CEO last week and will take office Saturday. Aside from his annual salary, Anderson can earn $11 million in incentives tied to the company's performance, the filing said. That sum is "in recognition of the substantial compensation awards that he forfeited by leaving UnitedHealth Group," where he served as an executive vice president, the filing said. (AP)

Moody's Investors Service changed its outlook on The New York Times Co., parent of The Boston Globe, to negative, from stable, citing increased pressure on the publisher's advertising from other media as well as from a downturn in the housing market. A negative outlook indicates the company's debt is likely to be downgraded over the next 12 to 18 months. The New York Times is currently ranked "Baa1," the third-lowest investment grade rating. (Reuters)

Crocs Inc., the maker of a colorful line of casual shoes, climbed to its highest value in almost a month in New York trading after unveiling a men's and children's clothing collection. Crocs shares rose 99 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $59.98 in composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, the highest since Aug. 2. The stock has increased more than fivefold since the company went public in February 2006. Crocs sales more than doubled to $224.3 million in the second quarter, and the company increased its full-year profit forecast on higher orders than it expected and sales in Europe. (Bloomberg)

THE WORLD

Altria Group Inc., the world's largest tobacco company, may say this week that it will spin off its Switzerland-based international unit as investors seek overseas growth and reduced exposure to smokers' lawsuits. There's as much as a 90 percent chance the board will decide to split off Philip Morris International after directors meet Aug. 29, Bonnie Herzog, a Citigroup Inc. analyst in New York, wrote in a note to investors. An Altria spokeswoman in New York declined to comment on speculation about the board's meeting. (Bloomberg)