Airlines' bid to raise leisure fares a flop

CHICAGO >> A bid by major U.S. airlines to raise leisure fares and improve finances shaken by the Sept. 11 attacks has failed after Northwest Airlines Corp. refused to go along, air fare experts said yesterday.

Continental Airlines led the airlines in raising leisure fares by $20 per round trip Thursday. However, Continental and the other major U.S. carriers rolled back fares Monday, following Northwest's decision over the weekend to hold out, experts said.

"So, I guess the first fare hike of 2002 is a flop," said Bestfares.com Chief Executive Tom Parsons. "It is dead in the water."

Air travel has gradually increased since the sharp drop-off related to Sept. 11, although carriers have kept prices well below year-ago levels to spur business. The average price of domestic airfare was down roughly 14 percent from year ago levels in February, with a 1,000-mile domestic trip costing $128.93.

Artist Wyland makes a splash in Wailea

Wyland Galleries Hawaii opened last month at The Shops of Wailea on Maui.

Though the 3,500-square-foot shop is the 11th Hawaii outlet for the artist's work, he considers it the new national flagship store for Wyland Galleries.

Wyland expects the Wailea gallery will attract a different audience than his Lahaina location, which is the company's top-selling store nationwide, according to a corporate news release. "Wailea is a resort, retail and travel destination all in one place," said Wyland.

In addition to Wyland's work, the gallery features about a dozen other artists, including Hawaii photographer Kim Taylor Reece.

Gannett's profits jump 40% as expenses drop

MCLEAN, Va. >> Gannett Co., parent of the Honolulu Advertiser, said first-quarter profit rose 40 percent as it benefited from a drop in newsprint prices and a change in the way it accounts for acquisition-related costs.

Net income rose to $243.6 million, or 91 cents a share, from $174.5 million, or 66 cents, in the year-earlier period, the company said. Sales fell 3.2 percent to $1.52 billion as businesses spent less to advertise in USA Today.

Gannett used an 18 percent drop in newsprint costs and a 97 percent plunge in amortization expenses to end four straight quarters of profit declines. Newspaper advertising fell at a slower pace than in the fourth quarter and the publisher's per-share profit met the average estimate of analysts.

Gannett said the company "is comfortable with most First Call estimates in the range of $1.11 to $1.13 per share for the second quarter."

Shares of the McLean, Va.-based company fell 78 cents today to $77.20. The stock has increased 14.8 percent this year.

Advertising at Gannett's newspapers declined 5 percent to $969.8 million, after a 14 percent drop in the fourth quarter. Newspaper advertising industrywide slumped 9 percent last year, the worst drop since 1938, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Gannett's television revenue rose 7.4 percent to $167.2 million.