Business & Finance
A plan for US Airways to emerge from bankruptcy by March 31 cleared a federal court in Alexandria, Va. The nation's seventh-largest carrier, which lost $852 million in the first three quarters of last year, still must persuade its creditors to back the reorganization. The plan hinges on securing a $1 billion federal loan guarantee, a $240 million investment from Alabama's state pension fund, and new labor concessions on top of the $926 million already agreed by unionized employees.
Delta Air Lines and rivals Continental and Northwest won OKs from two federal agencies for their "code sharing" alliance that allows each to sell seats on the others' flights. But approval by the Transportation Department will require that each carrier give up underutilized gates at certain airports, if asked, and that a majority of code-share flights benefit smaller markets that are not served by any of the three. Meanwhile, in giving its OK, the Justice Department insisted that Delta, Northwest, and Continental not code-share on routes where they compete, that they charge identical fares for such service, and that they bid independently on corporate accounts, The Wall Street Journal reported.
More than half of AT&T's 72,000 employees will have to wait until September for the merit raises their performances have earned, the telecommunications giant said, confirming a published report Friday. Citing the wobbly economy, stiff competition, and the growing tendency of customers to use cellphones and e-mail for long-distance communications, AT&T also said it will reevaluate its managerial structure and impose a moratorium on new management-level jobs. The merit increases normally would have been paid in March.
Kmart Corp. announced a management shuffle as the discount retailer seeks to emerge from bankruptcy protection by April 30. Its board named Julian Day, who was brought in last March as president, to the additional post of chief executive Sunday. The move came two days after Kmart fired the remaining five executives, including its general counsel, of 25 who received controversial loans in the months prior to its January 2002 bankruptcy filing.
