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ON THE MAINLAND
United cuts meals on mainland flights
CHICAGO >> United Airlines, seeking ways to boost revenue as it operates in bankruptcy, today said it would slash the priciest business fares to and from its two biggest hubs in Chicago and Denver by as much as 40 percent.Additionally, passengers on night flights from Hawaii to the mainland will no longer get a sandwich, said United spokesman Jeff Green. United, like other airlines, had already cut out domestic meal service in coach class after the Sept. 11 attacks threw the industry into a massive financial crisis.
To help trim costs, the airline will also cut food service in first and business classes on most domestic flights outside of traditional meal times.
UAL Corp.'s United, the world's No. 2 airline, said the new business fare discounts would also apply to connecting markets and would not require any minimum or Saturday night stays. The new discounts are on one-way, unrestricted, refundable coach fares typically used by last-minute business travelers.
Judge puts off Waksal sentence
NEW YORK >> A federal judge today delayed by two months the sentencing of Samuel Waksal, the former chief executive of ImClone Systems Inc., on insider trading charges after chastising defense lawyers for failing to provide financial data about their client.Waksal pleaded guilty in October to six of 13 counts stemming from large sales of company stock before news broke in December 2001 that regulators would reject ImClone's main experimental cancer drug.
U.S. District Judge William Pauley warned lawyers that if Waksal's financial information was not turned over to the probation department, he would try Waksal on the seven open counts.
Waksal's plea was not part of a cooperation agreement with the government that could have required him to testify against others, including his friend Martha Stewart, the homemaking guru under investigation for her trades in ImClone shares.
Pauley today postponed Waksal's sentencing, which had been set for Jan. 24, until March 17.
Trial begins this week in fatal tire blowout
MONTGOMERY, Ala. >> Bridgestone-Firestone and Ford Motor Co. will go on trial this week in a lawsuit blaming them for the wreck that killed civil rights leader Earl Shinhoster.Shinhoster, a former NAACP acting executive director in Atlanta, and Samimah Aziz were passengers in a Ford Explorer that crashed June 11, 2000, on Interstate 85. Aziz was hurt.
The lawsuit was filed by Shinhoster's widow, Ruby, and by Aziz. It claims the accident occurred when the tire on the Explorer blew out and "disintegrated" and that Bridgestone-Firestone knew the tire was defective.
The lawsuit is one of many filed in accidents involving alleged failure of Firestone tires and Ford Explorer roll-overs. But experts say it is the first time Bridgestone-Firestone and Ford will be defendants in a trial involving the same accident.
Tenet Healthcare to alter billing practices
LOS ANGELES >> Tenet Healthcare Corp., facing a federal inquiry into its Medicare billing practices, said today it will voluntarily adopt new guidelines for determining supplemental Medicare payments.The new procedures are expected to reduce Tenet's reliance on the so-called "outlier" payments to $8 million per month from $65 million per month, the company said in a statement.
Outlier payments are supplemental Medicare reimbursements for the sickest patients.
Tenet is being audited by federal authorities over its aggressive pricing, which has led to above-average outlier payments.
The new policy mirrors changes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are expected to make nationwide later this year.
WORLD
Airline losses topped $13 billion
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad >> The global airline industry suffered a $13 billion loss in 2002, the second straight year of staggering losses as costs for tighter airport security and "war" insurance took their toll, an International Air Transport Association official said today."It's the second year of record losses in the industry," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and chief executive officer of the Geneva-based aviation industry body.
The global airline industry lost an estimated $18 billion in 2001 following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, he said.
"When you add those two figures, it means the industry is really in grave, grave problems. The losses together are more than the total profit all the airlines made since 1945. This gives the dimension in which the airlines are moving," Bisignani told a news conference while visiting Trinidad.
The global airline industry in 2002 also suffered a 2.5 percent reduction in passenger travel but recorded a 6 percent growth in freight carrying, he said.
Bisignani said the IATA forecasts that total passenger traffic will grow 6.4 percent in 2003 and on average 3.3 percent per year until 2006.
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[ HAWAII INC. ]
NEW JOBS
>> Jason Kaneshiro has been hired as senior network engineer for Century Computers. He is moving back to Hawaii from Fair Oaks, Calif. Kaneshiro most recently worked for VantageMed and Capitol Network Solutions. Christine Ogata has been named senior account executive. She operated her own document scanning business on the West Coast before deciding to move back to Hawaii.>> Aston Hotels & Resorts Hawaii has named Matt Derby to the newly created position of programs, promotions and public relations manager. His duties will include strategizing and implementing marketing programs and promotions as well as overseeing the advertising and public relations efforts provided by outside firms. Derby most recently worked at McNeil Wilson Communications Inc. as senior account executive in its travel and tourism division. A subsidiary of ResortQuest International, Aston operates 33 condominium resorts and hotels in Hawaii.
PROMOTIONS
>> First Hawaiian Bank's Tracy T.T. Higa has been promoted to assistant vice president and consumer service center operations manager. She joined First Hawaiian in 1979 as a clerk. In addition, Kimberly A. Albin was named Kona branch business banking officer and Christy W. Lee was promoted to trade finance department operations officer. Albin joined the bank from Franchise Capital Services in Nebraska. Lee joined the bank as a letter of credit clerk in 1980 and was promoted to assistant supervisor in 1995.
