Northwest faces a daunting test
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NORTHWEST FACES A DAUNTING TEST
MINNEAPOLIS — Northwest Airlines Corp. got off to a smooth start by keeping its planes flying when mechanics struck. But the real test for the company and its replacement mechanics arrives with a far busier weekday schedule.
The strike began on Saturday, generally the lightest flying day of the week. Northwest averages 1,215 flights on Saturdays — but that increases to 1,381 on Sunday and 1,473 on weekdays, company spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said yesterday.
The airline will find that maintaining its schedule will be tougher as the workweek begins, said Scott Hamilton, an airline consultant for Leeham Co. in Sammamish, Wash.
About 4,400 Northwest unionized mechanics, cleaners and custodians walked off the job Saturday after refusing to take pay cuts and layoffs that would have reduced their ranks almost by half. No new talks have been scheduled.
GOOGLE UNVEILS BIGGER PROGRAM
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google Inc. updated its software for searching PC hard drives and the Internet, giving the free program a new look and adding tools that deliver personalized information based on a user's Web surfing habits.
Google Desktop 2, available today as a public beta test, is the company's latest volley against Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. as all three race to expand their presence on PC desktops.
The latest Google offering includes several twists. Beyond providing search results, it monitors the user's behavior and presents relevant information in a resizable and moveable window.
One module aggregates e-mail messages from a variety of accounts, including Google's Gmail service or the user's Internet provider. Others display stock prices, personalized news headlines, weather reports and what's popular on the Web.
CALIF. MEASURES ITS MOVIE LOSSES
California loses more than $10 million in tax revenue when a larger-budget movie costing about $70 million is made elsewhere.
A midsize film, costing about $32 million, shot out of state means about $4 million in lost taxes. For a 12-episode drama, state coffers lose more than $3 million.
The findings from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. are contained in the most detailed study to date on the effect on state revenue of runaway film and TV production.
