BUSINESS BRIEFS
Now you can fly nonstop flights to Anchorage
Advertiser News Services
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Airlines yesterday inaugurated nonstop service between Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu.
The airline launched nonstop Seattle-Honolulu service Oct. 12 and nonstop Seattle-Lihu'e service Oct. 28.
The flights depart Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport at 3:20 p.m. Alaska time and arrive in Honolulu at 8:40 p.m. Hawai'i time. Return flights depart Honolulu at 10:10 p.m. Hawai'i time and arrive in Anchorage at 5:30 a.m. Alaska time. Flights are operated with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, accommodating 16 passengers in first class and 141 in the main cabin.
CHINA WARNS U.S. ON PROTECTIONISM
BEIJING — Beijing is increasingly concerned over protectionist sentiments in the U.S. Congress, China's finance minister said yesterday, saying legislation targeting Chinese imports would do major damage to trade between the two countries.
Minister Xie Xuren's comments came just days before the start of high-level meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other officials.
China's massive trade surplus with the U.S. is expected to be a key issue at the talks.
HOLIDAY PARTIES, BONUSES SCARCER
The holiday party punch will be flat this year and so will a lot of paychecks as companies cut back on year-end bonuses and holiday parties.
About 85 percent of companies will host a holiday party in 2007, according to a survey by Battalia Winston, an international search firm based in New York. That's down from 94 percent in 2006 and the lowest percentage since the Sept. 11 attacks.
As for year-end bonuses, 35 percent of employers have a December holiday or gift program, a survey by benefits consulting firm Hewitt Associates shows. Ten percent of companies that had such a perk have ended it.
