Virgin Atlantic Says Several Parties Are Interested in Tie-Up

Virgin Atlantic in tie-up talks
Virgin Atlantic has said it has received "a number of lines of enquiries" about potential tie-ups. The airline added that negotiations were at "early stages", and that it was "far too early" to comment further. Virgin said the approaches came after it hired Deutsche Bank last month to assess growth opportunities in the aviation industry....

US airlines boost fares up to $10 per round trip
Several U.S. Airlines have raised fares by up to $10 per round trip. Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, said Wednesday that American Airlines started the increases by boosting prices on flights over 500 miles by $5 each way or $10 roundtrip, and by $3 each way and $6 roundtrip for shorter trips. American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith confirmed the fare increases. He said fares are dictated by supply and demand, and were also influenced by recent increases in fuel costs. The higher fares were ma...

Delta tops list of airline fee collections
Published: Dec. 13, 2010 at 5:42 PM WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. carrier Delta Airlines took in more than $1.26 billion in baggage and changed ticket fees in the first nine months of 2010, a government report said. The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said U.S. airlines made $11 billion more on fees in the Third Quarter than they did in the second, and $143 million more July through September compared to the Third Quarter of 2009, USA Today reported Monday. In total, U.S. carriers t...

J.C. Penney takes big step with Facebook shopping
J.C. Penney Co. on Tuesday became one of the first major Retailers to open a fully functional online store within Facebook, letting customers shop, share and buy without having to leave the social network. "With over 1.3 million friends and growing, our Facebook page remains a vital tool for engaging our customers as they explore and share the J.C. Penney brand," Tom Nealon, group executive vice president for the Plano, Texas, retailer, said in a news release. J.C. Penney's Facebook page now h...

American Airlines starts a trend: Higher airfares
Airfares kept low by the weak economy may now be a thing of the past. American Airlines raised domestic airfares at the first of the week by $5 one way for flights over 500 miles ($10 round trip) and $3 one way for shorter flights ($6 round trip) across the bulk of its route system, according to FareCompare.com, which monitors prices. Most of its competitors — including Continental, Delta, United, US Airways, Virgin America, Alaska, Frontier and Southwest — have matched it. The match...

Google pushes back against merger criticism
Google deputy General Counsel Don Harrison pushed back on Wednesday against criticism Google is using its deep pockets and dominance of the search market to extend its monopoly into other areas. Harrison published a response to a Tuesday column from The Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein that criticizes the inability of outdated Antitrust laws to adapt to today's hi-tech economy. Pealstein specifically criticized Google for trying to "buy its way" into the online travel market by purchasing I...

Bloomberg News reporter omits Michael Bloomberg from soda tax story
Bloomberg News reported some rather startling news on Tuesday: According to Duke-National University of Singapore researchers writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “A tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in the U.S. would generate billions of dollars in federal revenue and have little impact on Weight Loss.” The researchers concluded that the best plan for reducing consumption of sugary drinks is to end sugar subsidies, not increase taxes. The story was startling not simply because ...

U.K. Inflation Unexpectedly Quickens to Six-Month High of 3.3%
Guess Who Opposes Reversing the Individual Mandate in Health Reform? Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Inflation rate unexpectedly accelerated to a six-month high in November, boosted by food and clothes prices, putting more pressure on policy makers to rein in cost pressures. Consumer prices rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier after a 3.2 percent increase in October, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. That’s the highest since May and exceeded the 3.2 percent median f...

No. 9 Baylor beats Bethune-Cookman 83-39
Bethune-Cookman's Garrius Holloman, right, shoots over Baylor's Perry Jones III, left, in the first half of an NCAA college Basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010, in Waco, Texas. LaceDarius Dunn, Quincy Acy and ninth-ranked Baylor came back strong from an extended break. Dunn scored 24 points for his fourth consecutive 20-point game, Acy had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and the Bears beat Bethune-Cookman 83-39 on Wednesday night for their school-record...

Stocks poised to fall at the open
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised to open lower Wednesday morning, ahead of several economic reports. Worries about European Debt continue to underpin sentiment, with Spain being the latest country to face a possible downgrade. Email Print Comment Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and NASDAQ (COMP) futures were down about half a percent ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance. On Tuesday, U.S. sto...

Unions That Wont Take No for an Answer
Part of living in a Democracy involves accepting Election Results. Americans know to move on when their side loses. Neither Republicans nor Democrats would suggest redoing the vote until their side won. Someone should tell that to the union movement. The Obama Administration recently made it easier to organize Delta Airlines. Delta’s employees nonetheless voted the union down. Instead of accepting defeat, the union movement is now asking for a re-vote. They will not take “no” for an answ

Exclusive: Starwood to build new China Sheratons
By Helen Chernikoff NEW YORK | Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:28pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Starwood Hotels (HOT.N) will oversee the investment of $5 billion to build 35 new Sheraton hotels by 2013 -- half of them in China, the company told Reuters. Most of the money will come from individual hotel developers and owners. Operators such as Starwood and Marriott International (MAR.N) franchise their brands and manage hotels but own very few of them. Of the $5 billion, about two-thirds will be spent outside...

Paul Snyder: Wal-Mart Marks Up Toy Prices for the Holiday Season
Bloomberg News reports today that a company email from November 30th instructed Wal-Mart stores to mark up prices on more than a thousand kinds of toys during the holiday rush. Wal-Mart managers in the U.S. received instructions to mark up an average of 1,800 types of toys per store, according to a company e-mail dated Nov. 30 obtained by Bloomberg News. The e- mail didn't disclose specific increases. The prices were changed "to better enable your store and the company to have a successful fin...

Upton Wants FCC to Expedite Review of Comcast, NBC Merger
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski dated December 10, U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) inquired into the FCC’s commitment to a fair, fact-driven review of the Comcast-NBC Universal Merger. The merger would call for the transfer of assets to a new Joint Venture for NBC Universal.  The Joint Venture combines NBC and Telemundu as well as 26 NBC television stations and national Cable Networks with Comcast’s regional sports networks and ...

Sanders tells FCC to block NBC-Comcast merger
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote to the Department of Justice on Tuesday urging them to block Comcast's proposed acquisition of NBC Universal on the grounds it would damage the media landscape by reducing competition and increasing prices. "Because this Merger would lessen competition in three separate markets, and because it would put our media landscape in grave danger, I urge you to deny approval," Sanders wrote to assistant Attorney General Christine Varney. Sanders has been one of the mo...

Sanders slammed Comcast merger during epic speech
During his eight-and-a-half-hour Speech against President Obama's tax Compromise with Republicans, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also took on another of his favorite topics: the pending Merger between Comcast and NBC Universal.  His Friday speech, labeled a #filibernie on Twitter, included a few bars of criticism about the mega-merger under review by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Justice Department. Sanders wants the deal blocked.  "I think it is a bad idea," Sanders said...

Universal tries to take full advantage of Wizarding World's popularity
When "60 Minutes" profiled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month, the TV piece included a look at some of Zuckerberg's personal posts online. They showed that the 26-year-old Billionaire, whose website has more than 500 million users, had recently been in Orlando — visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was yet another jolt of publicity for Universal Orlando, which has been basking in a global spotlight since Wizarding World's formal opening in mid-June. The rides,...

IATA: Airlines to earn $15B in 2010, ups forecast
The International Air Transport Association says Airlines will see net profits of $15.1 billion in 2010 due to a better-than-expected Economic Recovery and strong growth in Asia. In September, IATA had predicted an $8.9 billion industry profit this year. IATA chief Economist Brian Pearce says "2011 is going to be a much more challenging period" as heavy debts and added taxes weigh on consumer travel spending in North America and Europe. The Geneva-based group representing some 230 international ...

Airline bill sparks bipartisan battle
A Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill has touched off a heated Bipartisan battle, with senior senators fighting it out over one of the most valuable commodities any lawmaker can bring home — airplane flights. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has pushed so hard to bring flights to the West that his staff showed up for a meeting of senior aides with an unusual partner — a US Airways Lobbyist. Democrats grumbled, but it looks like US Airways will score the most flights in the ...

UPDATE 1-Australia watchdog backs Virgin Blue alliances
Wed Dec 15, 2010 7:24pm EST * Regulator back previously rejected Air NZ tie-up * Also back alliance with Etihad after interim approval * Virgin Blue shares up nearly 5 pct (Adds Air NZ comment, Etihad, detail, prices) SYDNEY, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Australia's competition Watchdog has conditionally allowed Virgin Blue to form alliances with Air New Zealand and Etihad, boosting the firm's reorganisation plans and lifting its shares nearly 5 percent. Reversing an earlier rejection, the regulator wi...

Virgin Blue, Air New Zealand Get Alliance Approval
Australia's competition regulator on Thursday approved an alliance between Budget airline Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand to expand operations between the two Pacific countries, reversing an earlier rejection of the plan. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also gave provisional approval to an alliance between Virgin Blue and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad to expand services to the Middle East. The regulator said in a statement that the Virgin Blue, Air New Zealand approval would apply...

Worlds 5 biggest airlines now from Asia, LatAm
GENEVA (AP) — The world’s five biggest Airlines now hail from Asia and Latin America, highlighting the industry’s shift away from the U.S. and Europe to higher-growth countries, the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday. Air China is twice the size of either Delta in the U.S. or Germany’s Lufthansa. But despite Emerging Markets’ strength and a broad earnings rebound this year, weak economic conditions in Europe and low margins are acting as a drag on ...

ACCC clears the way for Virgin alliances
The competition Watchdog grants conditional approval for an alliance between Virgin Blue and Air NZ. (ABC News Online: Kathy Lord) The competition Watchdog has backflipped and granted conditional approval for an alliance between Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand for trans-Tasman flights, for three years. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says the deal is likely to benefit passengers in several ways, including more choices of routes and potentially lower fares. But the ACCC says it...

Virgin Blue, Air New Zealand get alliance approval
Australia's competition regulator on Thursday approved an alliance between Budget airline Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand to expand operations between the two Pacific countries, reversing an earlier rejection of the plan. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also gave provisional approval to an alliance between Virgin Blue and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad to expand services to the Middle East. The regulator said in a statement that the Virgin Blue, Air New Zealand approval would apply fo...

Panel questions safety of lap children on planes
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal advisory panel recommended steps Wednesday that could end the practice of having very young Children in their parents' laps when flying. The Federal Aviation Administration has the final say on regulations governing the airline industry, but a 19-member advisory panel said the federal agency should look at whether it would be safer to have Children belted into their own seats instead of being in their parents' laps. Putting Children into their own seats or using chil...