BUSINESS BRIEFS
United Air pilots union calls for CEO's resignation
Associated Press
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ATLANTA — The union representing pilots at UAL Corp.'s United Airlines urged Chief Executive Glenn Tilton to resign yesterday, accusing him of steering the nation's No. 2 carrier down a path to poor customer service, employee morale and financial performance.
In a statement, the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said United needs new leadership. It launched a Web site to draw attention to what it says have been Tilton's failures since he took over as CEO in September 2002.
United responded in a statement that the union request "is an obvious and predictable attempt to deflect attention from" its "illegal activity" cited in court papers filed by United last month. The airline asked a federal judge to stop four pilots and their union from abusing sick time and refusing to fly extra hours.
The injunction request accused the Air Line Pilots Association of encouraging a sick-out, which is not allowed under the Railway Labor Act, the labor law governing airlines.
Spokeswoman Jean Medina said Tilton will not resign.
3 BANKS ADDED TO SECURITIES PROBE
NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said yesterday he is expanding his investigation into the collapse of the auction-rate securities market to include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wachovia Corp.
Last week, Cuomo's office and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached settlements that forced Swiss bank UBS to repurchase $18.6 billion in the securities, while Citigroup agreed to buy back $7 billion of the securities.
The attorney general will determine if JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia knowingly misrepresented the safety of the securities when selling them.
OIL PRICES DROP TO 3-MONTH LOW
NEW YORK — Oil prices finished at a new three-month low yesterday after briefly dropping below the $113-a-barrel mark, as the dollar extended its rebound and more signs emerged that China's energy demand could be leveling off.
In earlier trading, oil fluctuated as traders monitored the conflict between Russia and Georgia that some believe could disrupt supplies. But those worries faded to the background as the dollar's recovery accelerated, and as the energy market focused on a report from China that the country's crude oil imports in July were down 7 percent from last year.
Light, sweet crude fell 75 cents to settle at $114.45 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dipping to $112.72, its lowest price since early May.
CHINA INDEX SLIPS ON HIGH INFLATION
SHANGHAI, China — China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 5.2 percent yesterday following the release of economic data showing wholesale price inflation jumped to its highest level in 12 years in July.
The Shanghai index closed at 2,470.07 yesterday, down 135.65 points. That was its lowest close in more than a year and a half.
LAPTOP CONTAINING PRIVATE INFO STOLEN
SAN FRANCISCO — A laptop computer containing personal information from 33,000 travelers who applied to a program for bypassing airport security lines was probably stolen and returned, not just misplaced, investigators said yesterday.
The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that it had suspended new enrollments to the program, known as Clear, after the unencrypted computer disappeared from a locked office at San Francisco International Airport.
The day after TSA's announcement, the laptop reappeared in a locked cabinet in the same office.
Verified Identity Pass Inc., which runs the Clear program, said at the time that the company did not know whether its computer had been stolen or just overlooked.
