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Outrigger heads to New Zealand
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts will manage its first New Zealand property, a 99-suite resort that is scheduled to open in Queenstown in June.The lakefront resort, to be called the Outrigger Queenstown at the Beacon, will be developed in phases by Wensley Developments Ltd., under a memorandum of understanding with Outrigger.
The resort, located on New Zealand's South Island, will open in time for the Southern Hemisphere ski season.
Outrigger plans to operate up to six hotels and resorts in New Zealand within three years, and has identified the tourist centers of Auckland, Rotorua and Christchurch. In neighboring Australia, Outrigger manages seven properties and another three resorts that are scheduled to open in six months.
Aloha mechanics vote for contract
Aloha Airlines employees represented by the International Association of Machinists have voted to ratify a new labor agreement. The terms have not been disclosed, but Aloha has said it needed some pay cuts in order to get the $40.5 million federal loan guarantee that was approved Nov. 5.The IAM is Aloha's biggest union, representing 1,850 of its 3,000 employees.
Nuts pay dividends
ML Macadamia Orchards LP yesterday announced a 5 cents a unit distribution, maintaining its dividend at its current level. The payout will be Feb. 14 to unit holders of record as of Dec. 31.ML Macadamia's dividend yields 6.1 percent.
United taps ex-CFO for new post
CHICAGO >> UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, beginning work on a new business plan as part of its bankruptcy process, said today it named its former Chief Financial Officer Doug Hacker to the position of executive vice president for strategy.Additionally, United said it will give machinists $70 million in back wages and continue talks Thursday with all unions to try to reach agreement on cost cuts and work rule changes deemed essential to the bankrupt airline's survival.
United on Monday became the largest airline ever to file for bankruptcy and yesterday met with union advisers in Boston to talk about cuts that are expected to run far deeper than concessions it touted in a plan intended to avert bankruptcy.
Hacker will be responsible for all corporate strategy and revenue-producing functions, the airline said. Hacker comes to the post from his most recent job of UAL's wholly owned subsidiary United Loyalty Services, which he took in 2000 after his stint as the airline's CFO.
Sprint to cut jobs, combine units
CHICAGO >> Sprint Corp. said today it would cut about 2,100 jobs, the second round of layoffs at the No. 3 U.S. long-distance telephone company in the last month, to cope with the severe industry downturn.The latest cuts affect about 3 percent of Sprint's work force.
Bush still backing Friedman pick
WASHINGTON >> The White House is pressing forward with plans to tap Stephen Friedman to coordinate economic policy after reassuring conservative Republicans that the former chairman of Goldman, Sachs will champion a new round of tax cuts, Republican sources said today.Friedman's appointment as President Bush's chief economic adviser has been held up by an exhaustive review of his finances, but sources said an announcement could come as early as tomorrow.
Friedman would replace embattled National Economic Council chief Lawrence Lindsey, who was forced out by Bush on Friday .
Conservative Republicans warned Friedman would be more interested in balancing the budget than supporting Bush's soon-to-be-announced tax cut package.
Shareholders approve TRW, Northrop sale
CLEVELAND >> Shareholders approved the $7.8 billion sale of TRW Inc. to defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. today, clearing the way for completion of a deal that will make Northrop the world's second largest defense contractor.TRW shareholders approved the deal at a morning meeting in Cleveland. A few hours later, Northrop shareholders meeting in Santa Monica, Calif., approved the transaction.
The sale is expected to close within a day or two.
The votes came a day after Northrop announced an agreement with the Justice Department that the merger will not impede fair and open competition related to electronics in spacecraft.
