BUSINESS BRIEFS
Local channels on DirecTV
Advertiser Staff and News Services
DirecTV has begun offering local television channels to its Hawai'i subscribers.
Subscribers can now obtain digital-quality access to KHON, KITV, KFVE, KGMB, KHET, KHNL and KIKU. Subscribers can receive the local channels by using a new DirecTV H20 receiver and a 1.2-meter dish.
"New satellites and advanced technology have enabled us to provide most viewers in Hawai'i with a complete lineup of DirecTV programming for the first time," said Dan Fawcett, the company's executive vice president for programming acquisition.
JOBLESS CLAIM NUMBERS LOW
Hawai'i continues to rank among the states with the fewest number of residents filing claims for unemployment insurance, the U.S. Labor Department reported today.
Approximately 800 residents filed first-time claims for the week of Nov. 26, down from 1,000 during the same week a year ago. The Hawai'i claims comprised just 0.3 percent of the total claims filed nationally. Only three states had fewer claims as a percentage of the national total.
STRIKE LOOMS FOR DELTA PILOTS
ATLANTA — The executive committee of the pilots union at Delta Air Lines Inc. voted unanimously yesterday to ask rank-and-file members to authorize a strike as the airline seeks to impose $325 million in concessions on them.
The decision came after a daylong meeting in New York, said Lee Moak, chairman of the executive committee. The nation's third-largest airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection in New York on Sept. 14, has asked the court to reject the pilots contract so it can impose the concessions on its 6,000 pilots, which would include a 19 percent pay cut.
Unlike other labor disagreements in the airline industry, there are fears that a strike by Delta pilots could cause the Atlanta-based carrier to shut down and sell off its assets.
