Bizworld: Delta Raises Fee for a Second Bag to $50, Citing Fuel Cost Increase
Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that it was doubling, to $50, the fee for checking a second bag, three months after airlines initially began imposing the charge.
The airline is also raising fees for checking special items, like surfboards, as well as additional luggage beyond two bags. Bags that exceed Delta’s weight allowance will also cost more.
Delta did not join other major airlines this summer in charging to check a first bag on flights within the United States. But Delta was among the airlines to begin charging $25 in May for a second bag.
The airline said Tuesday that it was increasing its second-bag fee to help offset increases in fuel prices, which have nearly doubled in the past 12 months. The increased second-bag fee, and the other fees, will apply to passengers who book tickets on or after Thursday for travel after next Tuesday.
Hampton Roads
daily press cuts 13 positions
The Daily Press, the Peninsula newspaper, reported that it cut more than a dozen jobs last week. The newspaper said 13 employees “left the company, most from the news operation, and several vacant positions were eliminated.” Digby Solomon, the newspaper’s publisher, did not return three phone messages this week.
These aren’t the newspaper’s first reductions this year. The Daily Press cut 14 jobs in January.
The Daily Press is owned by Tribune Co., which was taken over last year by real estate mogul Sam Zell. Zell has warned of significant cuts at Tribune’s newspapers.
– Philip Walzer
nation
s&p: home prices tumble in may
NEW YORK | Home prices tumbled by the steepest rate ever in May, according to a closely watched housing index released Tuesday, as the housing slump deepened nationwide.
Charlotte, N.C., posted the smallest drop at 0.2 percent.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index, which does not include any local cities, dropped by 15.8 percent in May compared with a year ago, a record decline since its inception in 2000.
court reverses merger ruling
WASHINGTON | Whole Foods’ effort to acquire its rival organic supermarket chain Wild Oats isn’t out of the legal woods yet.
A three-judge federal appeals court panel on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling from last year that allowed Whole Foods Market Inc. to acquire Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats Markets Inc.
The 2-1 ruling sends the case back to the lower court for further consideration but doesn’t halt Whole Foods’ integration of the chain or require that the deal be undone.
retailer files for bankruptcy
NEW YORK | Department store chain Mervyns LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday .
The company, which had been languishing for several years, said that all of its 175 stores will remain open and business will continue as it reorganizes. Privately held Mervyns operates mainly in California .
ex-enron official must pay $31.5M
WASHINGTON | A former top executive of collapsed Enron Corp. is paying $31.5 million to settle charges that he used inside information to illegally profit from sales of thousands of shares of company stock in 2001, federal regulators said Tuesday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said the deal with Lou L. Pai – who was chairman and chief executive of the fallen company’s retail energy division Enron Energy Services – is one of the largest ever with an individual for alleged illegal insider trading.
starbucks to cut many office jobs
NEW YORK | Starbucks Corp., which already plans to shut 600 stores, said Tuesday that it is also cutting almost 1,000 office jobs as part of its bid to re-energize the brand and boost its profit.
Of the new cuts, 550 of the positions are layoffs and the rest are unfilled jobs.
The announcement came a day before Starbucks was set to report its third-quarter financial results .
coal giant makes $14 billion deal
CHARLESTON, W.Va. | A global consolidation of the coal industry is shifting into overdrive.
Mining giant Teck Cominco said Tuesday it will buy up all of the Fording Canadian Coal Trust for close to $14 billion in cash and stock. The deal is just the latest in a growing string of giant acquisitions centered on coking coal, a key raw material for certain steel mills.
world
european carriers in merger talks
PARIS | British Airways and the Spanish carrier Iberia announced a merger plan Tuesday in what would be the first major alliance between European carriers since the recent surge in oil prices has pushed fuel prices to record levels. The longtime partners said Tuesday that they intended to join forces in an all-stock transaction.
siemens to sue former executives
BERLIN | Siemens AG said Tuesday it plans to sue two former CEOs and nine other ex-executives for alleged supervisory failings in a corruption scandal that has cost the company millions in fines and damaged its reputation. Siemens’ supervisory board decided to seek damages from former chief executive Heinrich von Pierer and his successor, Klaus Kleinfeld, now the chief executive of U.S.-based Alcoa Inc., and others, the industrial conglomerate said in a statement.
– From staff and wire reports
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