Continental Airlines is cutting $99 million in wages and benefits from its field services division as part of a plan to save $500 million in expenses. The nation's fifth-largest carrier agreed on the cuts with nonunion workers in a step toward avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in losses this year. The airline said on Jan. 6 that it might have "inadequate liquidity to meet its obligations" if $500 million in cuts weren't obtained by the end of February.
Verizon Teams With Yahoo
Verizon high-speed Internet subscribers will be able to access customized and premium content from Yahoo under a multiyear agreement that combines the companies' offerings into a single brand. Verizon-Yahoo broadband will offer premium services such as greater e-mail storage, video and radio as well as access to a co-branded home page. The telecommunications company also has a deal with Microsoft's MSN to provide content to its customers, but Yahoo will become the preferred partner starting this summer, a spokeswoman said.
Airbus plans to unveil its flagship A380 "superjumbo" jet today during a ceremony at its headquarters in Toulouse, France. Shown above is the jet's forward upper-deck cabin. Airbus has already taken orders for 139 of the $280 million planes, which are so large that many airports must make changes to accommodate them. The program's development cost $13 billion, and Airbus said it should break even after selling 250 planes.
(Airbus Via AP)
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Comair's president quit weeks after the failure of an overloaded computer system shut down the carrier's flights nationwide and stranded hundreds of passengers on Christmas. Delta Air Lines, which owns the regional carrier based at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, did not give further details about Randy D. Rademacher's resignation.
World Trade Organization members should consider overhauling the way they negotiate, a panel of experts said, citing an overuse of the consensus approach, even in purely procedural matters. The panel also expressed concern that regional trading blocs and bilateral pacts are undermining progress on a global trade accord.
Intel said it will reorganize into five business units. The groups at the world's biggest computer-chip maker will focus on mobility, digital enterprise, digital health and channel products. It will also create a digital home group. Also, Intel announced that tomorrow it will launch an overhauled version of its Centrino technology for notebook computers. The new set of chips, code-named Sonoma, is designed to improve overall speed, graphics and sound. Aiming at the home-user market, Intel said the new integrated graphics chip should have no problem handling 3-D games, DVDs or even high-definition video.
Hewlett-Packard today will unveil a new line of servers designed to further challenge Sun Microsystems and International Business Machines. The computers, part of the company's Integrity series, offer features more commonly found on mainframe computers, said Rich Marcello, head of HP's Business Critical Servers unit. HP and Intel, which developed the Itanium processor used in the servers, are going after the most lucrative part of the market for the powerful computers that companies use to manage databases and perform complex tasks.
Symantec, which agreed in December to buy Veritas Software, named Veritas Chief Financial Officer Edwin J. Gillis to manage the combined companies. Veritas is the second-largest seller of data storage software; Symantec makes the Norton antivirus software.
Northrop Grumman Chief Financial Officer Charles H. Noski is leaving the company and will be replaced by Wesley G. Bush, effective March 15. Bush is president of the defense contractor's space technology division, which it acquired as part of its purchase of TRW in December 2002.
Adobe Systems promoted Shantanu Narayen to president and chief operating officer. He will oversee engineering, sales and marketing and seek to boost revenue. Narayen had been executive vice president for worldwide product marketing and development for Adobe, the world's biggest maker of graphic-design software.
Angel L. Mendez, head of global operations for PalmOne, maker of the Treo mobile phone and handheld computer, is leaving to become senior vice president of worldwide manufacturing at Cisco Systems. Before working at PalmOne, Mendez was vice president of global supply chain management at Gateway.
INTERNATIONAL
Swiss International Air Lines suspended trading of its shares for a day and said it was considering major changes. Switzerland's struggling national airline said its executive board was discussing another restructuring plan, adding to the string of shake-ups the company has faced since it was created out of the defunct Swissair in March 2002.
Chinese authorities arrested dozens of government officials and others accused in a scheme to steal $900 million from a state bank through fraudulent loans, news reports said. Eighty officials have been dismissed and accused of colluding in the scheme, and some of them will be prosecuted, the China Daily newspaper said. According to investigators, the scheme at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was led by a businessman who received false letters of credit to receive the loans. More than $240 million has not been recovered.
Mitsubishi Motors will supply 36,000 mini-cars a year to Nissan in a partnership Mitsubishi sought to improve its weak financial position. Nissan, which does not make its own mini-cars, now gets them from Suzuki. Shipments from Mitsubishi will start in the first half of the companies' next fiscal years, which begin April 1.
EARNINGS
Goodrich said it will have an after-tax charge of less than $7 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 as a result of Boeing's decision to stop making 717 aircraft in 2006. The exact amount is still being determined, the Charlotte-based aerospace and defense systems supplier said.
John H. Harland Co. raised fourth-quarter earnings guidance to 75 cents to 80 cents a share, up from an anticipated 65 cents to 70 cents. For the year, earnings are projected at $1.96 to $2.01 a share, up from $1.86 to $1.91, for the provider of software and print products to financial and education markets.
Compiled from reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service and Washington Post staff writers.
