Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, April 6, 1998
ANA pilots strike; isle route not yet affected
TOKYO -- All Nippon Airways Co., Japan's second largest airline, said today its pilots have begun a planned strike on international routes to protest wage changes.While none of the air carrier's seven round-trip international flights scheduled for today will be grounded by the strike, company spokesman Kazutoshi Tsujimura said if the walkouts continued it would have to cancel flights tomorrow from western Japan's Kansai Airport to Rome and Milan. By Wednesday, the strike would begin to hit flights between Frankfurt and Kansai and between Tokyo's Narita Airport and New York, Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong, the airline said.
More people could be affected if the strike continues past Wednesday, the spokesman said. No talks between the pilots' union and management have been scheduled, he said.
ANA has one daily flight between Nagoya and Honolulu.
Report: Feds mull new Microsoft charges
NEW YORK -- Two months after it avoided millions of dollars in fines, Microsoft Corp. could be facing a new antitrust case, the Wall Street Journal reported today.Investigators issued new civil subpoenas to major computer companies such as Compaq Computer Corp. and are trying to start the case before Microsoft releases Windows 98 on May 15, the Journal said.
Once again, the software giant could be charged with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by maintaining and extending its control over operating software for personal computers, according to the newspaper, which cited unidentified Justice Department officials.
However, no decision has been made yet on whether to file a case, the newspaper said.
Feds set new rules on airline competition
WASHINGTON -- The Transportation Department is proposing its first set of guidelines on what constitutes unfair competition in the airline industry, hoping to pinpoint cases in which large carriers drive out smaller ones by lowering prices.The policy, announced today by Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, sets out markers to signal to the government whether an airline is unfairly trying to eliminate competition and whether enforcement action is needed.
"This policy is not intended to ensure the success of any start-up carrier but rather to ensure a level playing field," Slater said today.
The guidelines focus on large airlines that cut prices and increase seating capacity, even if at huge expense, to push smaller carriers out of business.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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