SLATER MAY BE CLOSING IN ON HUSHKIT RESOLUTION

SLATER MAY BE CLOSING IN ON HUSHKIT RESOLUTION    U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater has extended his trip to Europe in hopes of resolving the ongoing row between the United States and the European Union over a law, slated to take effect in May, that would ban older airplanes fitted with “hushkits.”
   After meeting with several EU transport officials, including Transport Minister Loyola De Palacio, and discussing the hushkit dispute, “I felt it was important to extend my stay in order to be on hand until the completion of today’s European Union Council of Ministers meeting,” Slater said in a statement released Tuesday.
   He said Palacio and others had committed to raising the hushkit issue and the idea of a common transatlantic aviation agreement at the ministers meeting.