BUSINESS BRIEFS
As demand falls, U.S. airlines plan more flight cuts
Associated Press
DALLAS — Executives of major U.S. airlines, already seeing signs of slumping travel demand, said yesterday they were ready to cut more flights, and Delta hinted at more job losses as the carriers jockey to survive the deepening recession.
U.S. airlines have been helped by a sudden drop in jet fuel prices, and they already cut capacity this fall to further reduce costs and drive up fares.
But traffic has fallen even faster than the supply of seats, especially since the stock market went into a nosedive.
Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's largest carrier, said it will reduce overall capacity another 6 to 8 percent next year. Delta and its Northwest Airlines unit will cut U.S. capacity 8 to 10 percent.
FED KEEPS ALIVE KEY PROGRAMS
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve has extended the life of key programs aimed at busting through credit clogs and restoring stability to financial markets.
The Fed said yesterday that the programs, originally slated to last through Jan. 30, will be extended through April 30. The Fed said it was taking the action "in light of continuing strains in financial markets."
The Fed's emergency lending facility, which investment firms can tap for a ready source of cash, is covered by the decision. This category was recently broadened to include any loans that were made to the U.S. and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.
MORE BAD NEWS AT SEARS HOLDINGS
CHICAGO — Sears Holdings Corp. posted its biggest quarterly loss since financier Edward Lampert combined Sears and Kmart into one retail company, due mainly to hefty charges related to store closures and disappointing U.S. sales.
The company also withdrew its operating profit outlook because of the country's economic woes.
The $146 million third-quarter loss — worse than had been expected and the company's second quarterly loss in the past year — is another sign of how difficult it will be for the venerable retailer to right itself amid growing competition and customers who are shopping at its stores even less than before because of the recession.
GE PLANS FOR A DIFFICULT 2009
WASHINGTON — General Electric Co. said yesterday it expects fourth-quarter earnings to be near the low end of its guidance and will take a charge of up to $1.4 billion as it starts to shrink its struggling GE Capital finance arm next year because of the ongoing credit crisis.
The diversified industrial, finance and media conglomerate said it expects 2009 to be a difficult year for GE Capital, which provides a wide range of commercial and consumer loans and has been battered by the global economic downturn.
GE laid out plans to reduce the finance unit's exposure to the turbulent debt markets as it restructures next year.
VIDEO STORE TO SELL CONCERT TICKETS
SAN FRANCISCO — Blockbuster Inc. will begin selling concert tickets at about 500 of its video rental stores, bolstering its effort to create a one-stop shop for entertainment.
Under a three-year agreement announced yesterday, Blockbuster's stores next month will become the primary brick-and-mortar sales outlet for music concerts staged by promoter Live Nation Inc. in the United States.
Dallas-based Blockbuster will supplant a hodgepodge of department stores, supermarkets and other retailers that Live Nation had been relying upon as part of an unraveling partnership with Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.
Beverly Hills-based Live Nation is breaking away from Ticketmaster to build its own ticketing channel. Ticketmaster will continue to handle some of Live Nation's sales until contracts covering several concert venues expire.
