[Taking Notice]

NEW JOBS

>> Max Sabal has been named director of Far East sales at the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel. He has 28 years of travel industry experience.

Also at the Radisson, Robin Ide was named accounts director of group sales, Newton Wong was named corporate/ military/government accounts director and Scott Kammeyer was named director of room revenue. Ide most recently served as regional director of accounts at the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau's Midwest Regional Sales Office. Wong was sales manager at the Maui Visitors Bureau. And Kammeyer previously served as rooms control manager at HTH Corp.

PROMOTIONS

>> Christina Kemmer has been named executive vice president at Communications-Pacific Inc. She will be responsible for the company's civic affairs and community-building practice. Kemmer, who is also the current chair of the City and County Transportation Commission, joined Communications-Pacific in 1998.

---

Alcatel to slash 10,000 more jobs in Europe

PARIS >> Telecommuni-cations equipment supplier Alcatel SA today announced it is cutting another 10,000 jobs, or about 9 percent of its work force, and said it expects to report losses for the full year.

Chief executive Serge Tchuruk said the slowdown in the telecommunications equipment market, which has also hit other major suppliers such as Britain's Marconi PLC and Sweden's LM Ericsson, would likely worsen in the first half of 2002. Including the cuts announced today, the French company now plans to lay off 32,500 employees during 2001 and 2002. At the end of 2000, it employed 110,000 people.

Airlines' attack recovery will take years, U.N. says

GENEVA >> It will take the world's airlines years to recover from the terrorist attacks on the United States, the U.N. labor agency said yesterday.

"The events of Sept. 11 were unlike any other shock experienced by the industry," said a statement issued after two days of talks by independent and airline experts organized by the International Labor Organization.

Already more than 200,000 of the 4 million people working for airlines worldwide have lost their jobs, ILO said.

Intel executives bullish despite tough times

SAN FRANCISCO >> Intel Corp. executives sounded a bullish note yesterday for long-term growth at the world's largest chipmaker, saying that the billions it's spending this year will yield profits and market share gains once the high-tech recession abates and growth resumes. CEO Craig Barrett said the chipmaker is still on track to spend $7.5 billion this year on capital expenditures and $3.9 billion on research and development.

Intel did not give any financial guidance, but said that by roughly the third quarter of 2002, it will have completed its transition to the Pentium 4 chip built using so-called 0.13 micron technology, in which certain dimensions of the chips are only 0.13 microns across.

Delta to lay off only 2,000 due to early retirement

ATLANTA >> Delta Air Lines, which was planning to cut 13,000 jobs, said today only 2,000 employees will be laid off because 11,000 took early retirement or a one-year voluntary leave. The 13,000 cuts, 15.8 percent of its work force, are part of a broader effort to reduce operations because of dramatically less traffic since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

About 4,200 employees chose to retire early, many lured by a company offer to add five years to their service records for better pension benefits, said Mark Baxter, a Delta human resources general manager. Delta employees are eligible for full pension benefits at age 60. Of the 2,000 who will be laid off, 1,700 are pilots who are not eligible for a retirement package the company offered. The first 400 pilots will be fired tomorrow, according to the Air Line Pilots Association.

Singapore Airlines adds cargo service to Texas

Dallas >> Singapore Airlines Ltd., Asia's third-biggest carrier, said it has added two weekly flights from Singapore to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport via Hong Kong. "The greater south-central area around Texas is a market where we have little presence," said Hwang Teng Aun, president of Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte.

SIA Cargo will market its freighter service to high-tech manufacturers as far south as the Mexican border, where many factories are located, and to petroleum companies, Hwang said. The flights, which started yesterday, will fly on from Dallas to Europe, India and Southeast Asia.

S. Korea consumer prices up 0.1% from last month

Seoul >>South Korean consumer prices rose only slightly in October from September, and core inflation was below the central bank's ceiling for a third straight month, leaving room for the central bank to trim interest rates for a fifth time this year.

The overall consumer price index rose 0.1 percent from September, seasonally adjusted, the National Statistical Office said. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent decline. From a year earlier, prices climbed 3.6 percent, accelerating from a 3.2 percent increase in September.

Air New Zealand loss widens in first quarter

Wellington >> Air New Zealand Ltd., the unprofitable national carrier, said first-quarter losses nearly doubled to NZ$52 million ($21.3 million) after the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. cut demand for international travel.The Auckland-based airline said operating losses before tax for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose by NZ$25 million from NZ$27 million a year ago. Air New Zealand said it had one-time losses of NZ$387.3 million in the first quarter, according to a statement.

Air New Zealand has agreed to an NZ$885 million debt and stock rescue plan, which will see the New Zealand government own about 83 percent of the business by the end of the year. The carrier's board yesterday approved a five-year business plan, which is subject to government due diligence, Air New Zealand said.

Mazda to idle plants in Japan for 5 days

Hiroshima, Japan >> Mazda Motor Corp., Japan's fifth-biggest automaker, said it will idle all of its factories each Friday in November to cut production amid slowing demand in the U.S.

The shutdown will affect 9,100 workers at all Mazda factories, including the company's main plant in Hiroshima, a factory in nearby Hofu and parts factories.