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Airlines' fuel fee runs out of gas

By Times Wires
Published January 23, 2008

DALLAS

A doubling of the fuel surcharge tacked on to most tickets by American Airlines and other carriers appeared to be failing Tuesday, the second straight unsuccessful effort by airlines to boost the fee. American last week raised its fuel surcharge to $40 from $20 for many round-trip flights and was quickly matched by rivals. But by Monday, Northwest Airlines Corp. had begun a gradual retreat, which forced other airlines to also drop the fee, according to analysts who watch air fares. American, Delta Air Lines Inc. and US Airways also rolled back their surcharges to the old $20 level.

BENTONVILLE, Ark.

More Wal-Mart workers covered

The percentage of Wal-Mart employees working without health insurance dropped from 9.6 percent to 7.3 percent of the company's 1.1-million-person payroll after the retail giant made coverage more affordable to low-wage workers. That's well below the 17.7 percent rate of all employed Americans with no health insurance. Wal-Mart released the figures after its health benefits became a lightning rod that prodded 30 states including Florida to weigh forcing big retail employers put more cash in their health plans. Overall, 79 percent of Wal-Mart workers - full or part time - are eligible for company health benefits, more than the retail industry average of 57 percent, according to Hewitt Associates and Kaiser Family Foundation.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.

Yahoo likely to cut hundreds of jobs

Yahoo Inc. co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang has concluded hundreds of employees will have to be fired to help the slumping Internet icon. The company's biggest purge since the dot-com bust most likely will be announced next week, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. Securities analysts are betting Yahoo will trim its 14,000-employee payroll by about 5 percent - or 700 workers.

WASHINGTON

Court opposes Enron bank suit

The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to Enron investors who sued major investment banks to recover money lost when the Texas energy giant collapsed amid a massive accounting fraud. By refusing to review the suit, the court may have ended the only hope of keeping the case alive. Enron's demise wiped out thousands of jobs, more than $60-billion in market value and more than $2-billion in pension plans.

T-bill rates fall

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Tuesday's auction. The Treasury Department auctioned $21-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 2.370 percent, down from 3.080 percent last week. An additional $19-billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.400 percent, down from 2.950 percent.

Times staff and wires

[Last modified January 23, 2008, 00:30:10]