Hawaiian Airlines gets $6.7 million more in bailout

The federal government has awarded Hawaiian Airlines an additional $6.7 million in emergency funds to make up for losses incurred since the Sept. 11 attack plunged air travel into disarray.

Combined with a little more than $18 million received in the first round of federal help, Hawaiian has now received $24.9 million.

Competitor Aloha Airlines received its second installment of $3.3 million last week, for a total of $7.7 million.

The federal airline stabilization fund has paid out $3.8 billion so far to 111 airlines, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

After the first installment, which was based on how much they fly, airlines had to demonstrate specific losses to get more funding.

Business columnist set for Friday book signing

Pacific Rim Seminars president and Honolulu Star-Bulletin business columnist Beth Terry will be signing her new book "101 Ways To Make Your Life Easier" Dec. 14 at the Kapolei Shopping Center Safeway, near the in-store Bank of Hawaii branch.

She also will appear Dec. 12 on the Channel 2 Morning News (KHON) in the "big red couch" segment after 8:30 a.m.

The book is available via Terry's Web site at www.bethterry.com

AT&T Broadband still considering offers

NEW YORK >> AT&T Broadband said talks about selling its operations are ongoing, but no decision has been reached.

The company, the nation's biggest cable television operator, met this weekend to discuss bids for its broadband operations.

"We're going back to discuss with all interested parties," AT&T spokeswoman Eileen M. Connolly said yesterday. She said AT&T hopes to have a decision on the future of the cable unit by the end of the year.

Three companies are believed to have submitted bids for Denver-based AT&T Broadband, including AOL Time Warner Inc., Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications Inc., sources told The Associated Press. Calls left with all three companies were not immediately returned.

Microsoft was also considering increasing its stake in AT&T Broadband, a separate source close to the matter said last week. But it was also possible that the software giant would participate in a bid by Comcast or Cox in return for a stake, the source said, also on condition of anonymity.

AT&T could still decide against selling AT&T Broadband and go forward with an earlier plan to spin off the division as a separate company. The company has about 14.4 million cable subscribers, including more than 3 million who use its digital video services, according to the National Cable Television Association.

The bidding process started after Comcast, the country's No. 3 cable operator, mounted a $41 billion hostile bid in July for AT&T Broadband.

A decision to sell to AOL Time Warner, the nation's second largest cable company, would likely face heavy scrutiny by federal regulators and politicians wary about a combined company with about 26 million subscribers. By some estimates, that would represent nearly 40 percent of the market.