IBM Tells Employees to Avoid U.S. Airlines From Europe

PURCHASE, N.Y. —  International Business Machines Corp. said today it has notified its employees worldwide to avoid travel on U.S. air carriers from Europe and the Middle East until the end of April on the basis of a terrorist alert issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

An IBM spokeswoman said such warnings are issued only on “rare occasions” when the threat of danger to employees is especially high. The advisory is non-binding, she said.

“The warning was issued yesterday (Thursday) through our network of IBM security people at IBM locations (worldwide),” IBM said.

IBM has about 387,000 employees worldwide, including about 223,000 in the United States.

The spokeswoman said the decision to choose alternative travel arrangements is up to individual employees. She said no directives were issued on travel to Europe or the Middle East from other origin points, or on non-U.S. carriers.