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United to ax 2,700 more attendants
Chicago >> UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said it plans to lay off an additional 2,700 flight attendants because of reductions in its 2003 flight schedule as the airline tries to lower costs to avoid bankruptcy.The job cuts, which begin Jan. 31, bring the total number of attendants laid off to 4,800, the airline said on its Web site. Calls to UAL weren't returned. No information was available on whether Hawaii jobs would be affected.
United said it has about 23,800 flight attendants worldwide. The flight attendants last month joined other employees in offering to take a pay cut as part of a plan to save Chicago-based UAL $5.8 billion over 5 1/2 years and keep the world's second- biggest airline out of bankruptcy court. Talks with flight attendants continue.
"We don't think (2,700) is necessarily a formal number," said Sara Dela Cruz, spokeswoman for United's Association of Flight Attendants. The union anticipates fewer total layoffs, she said, without elaborating.
Travel slump costs Four Seasons
Toronto >> Four Seasons Hotels Inc. had a third-quarter loss because of weak demand for its luxury properties, flooding in Prague and Jakarta and a dispute with a hotel owner that led to the closing of a hotel in Caracas.Four Seasons had a loss of C$12.3 million ($7.9 million) or 35 cents a share, compared with profit of C$32 million, or 80 cents, a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg News report. Revenue rose 8.7 percent to C$62.2 million. The loss includes expenses of C$17.5 million, or 50 cents a share, to write down the value of hotels in Caracas and Sydney, Chief Financial Officer Douglas Ludwig said on a conference call.
The company said leisure travel was more resilient than business travel in the quarter, with Four Seasons hotels in Paris and Milan and its two resorts in Hawaii doing well. The Four Seasons has properties at Hualalai on the Big Island and Wailea on Maui.
SEC says most reports flawed
NEW YORK >> A "substantial majority" of Fortune 500 companies' financial statements reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission have raised questions, the director of the SEC's corporation finance division said yesterday. Alan Beller said the SEC, which is completing its Fortune 500 review that began last December, has sent out comment letters to those companies. "Less than a substantial majority" of the companies have replied, he said.Most of the questions in the comment letters concern companies' accounting and management discussion and analysis, he said.
Safeway warns of tough times
SAN FRANCISCO >> With tougher competition continuing to bite into its sales, supermarket giant Safeway Inc. yesterday warned its financial performance will deteriorate through 2003.The Pleasanton, Calif.-based grocer said its fourth-quarter earnings will range from 78 cents to 80 cents per share, below the consensus estimate of 82 cents per share among analysts polled by Thomson First Call.
The disappointing fourth quarter will cap a disheartening year for Safeway. The nation's third-largest grocer braced investors for even more letdowns next year.
West Coast gas prices pumping up
Los Angeles >> After eight weeks of enjoying price declines at the gas pump, consumers have seen dramatic hikes this week and the Automobile Club of Southern California warned yesterday that more increases may be coming.On average, drivers are paying $1.591 for a gallon of regular gas, up 6.7 cents from a week ago and a hefty 26 cents above the same time last year. The Auto Club attributed the current spike to a variety of factors, from fears of supply interruption following the Alaskan earthquake on Nov. 3 to continuing nervousness over possible war with Iraq.
