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Airport parking fees to increase 60%
Parking fees will increase 60% at Detroit Metro’s Big Blue deck as
of Nov. 15, under a new budget approved by the Wayne County Airport
Authority board this morning. Daily parking at the blue deck
attached to the North terminal will go from $10 daily rate to $16. A
$1 increase is expected at the McNamara terminal deck by February,
possibly sooner, said Lester Robinson, the authority’s chief
executive officer. The parking fees were part of an effort by the
authority to cut costs charged to the airlines that operate at
Detroit Metro. The board approved a budget in September for the
fiscal year that started Oct. 1, which would have charged the
airlines $39.8 million more than last year.
The airlines objected, and the board directed the authority to come
up with more cost cuts. The new budget, unanimously approved today,
still includes an increase to the airlines but brings it down to
$32.5 million. Much of those savings are driven by the increased
parking revenue, which is expected to generate about $3 million in
additional funds. FREE PRESS BUSINESS
BOEING WORKERS RETURN TO WORK AFTER 8-WEEK STRIKE. Workers at Boeing
began returning to work on Sunday after members of the machinists
union voted to end a costly eight-week strike that clipped profits
and stalled delivery by the company, the world's second-largest
commercial airplane maker. Employees were going back to work at
Boeing's commercial airplane factories, which have been closed since
the Sept. 6 walkout. The walkout came amid surging demand for
Boeing's commercial jetliners, which include the 737s, 747s, 767s
and 777s. Boeing, which ranks second behind Airbus, has said its
order backlog has swollen to a record $349 billion in value. The
strike also further postponed the delivery of Boeing's long-awaited
787 "Dreamliner," which has already been delayed three times, and
other commercial planes. (AP; Page B4, New York Times)
RYANAIR PLANS CHEAP FLIGHTS FROM EUROPE TO U.S. Budget airline
Ryanair plans to offer trans-Atlantic flights as cheap as $13,
before taxes, to Boston and several other U.S. destinations from
Britain and Ireland. The Irish airline wants to offer services from
London's Stansted and Dublin airports to Boston, New York, Florida,
San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to CEO Michael O'Leary.
"Economy class will be very cheap--around 10 euros ($12.70). But our
business class will be very expensive. There's always 10% to 15%
who'll pay whatever it costs for a wide seat," O'Leary was quoted as
saying. (AP; www.BostonGlobe.com/Business)
MORE GET ON BOARD WITH TRAIN TRAVEL. After half a century as more of
a curiosity than a convenience, passenger trains are getting back on
track in some parts of the country. The high cost of energy, coupled
with congestion on highways and at airports, is drawing travelers
back to trains not only for commuting but also for travel between
cities as many as 500 miles apart. In the Midwest, transportation
officials are pushing a plan to connect cities in nine states in a
hub-and-spoke system centered in Chicago. The nine states included
in the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative are Ohio, Indiana, Michigan,
Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
Californians are considering selling billions of dollars worth of
bonds to get going on an 800-mile system of bullet trains that could
zip along at 200 mph, linking San Francisco and San Diego and the
cities in between.
Amtrak, the passenger rail service that struggled for years to
attract riders, drew a record 28.7 million in the year ending Sept.
30. That is 11% more than the year before and the sixth straight
year that ridership has increased. Ticket revenue hit a record $1.7
billion, a $200 million increase from a year earlier. Rail travel is
gaining greater favor in Congress, which provides the subsidies
needed to keep Amtrak rolling. Congress passed legislation this
month that sets a goal of providing $13 billion over five years to
Amtrak--a major vote of confidence for the railroad. (AP;
ChicagoTribune.com/Business)
HAWAII HOTEL OCCUPANCY FALLS TO 63% IN SEPT. Hawaii hotels in
September experienced their worst performance since the months
following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the latest
figures on hotel occupancy. Hotel guests filled only 63.2% of rooms,
or 11 percentage points less than September 2007, when nearly
three-quarters of rooms were filled during the month, according to a
report being released today by Hospitality Advisors LLC.
The report shouldn't be much of a surprise given the continued
decline in visitor arrivals and layoffs occurring in the state's
tourism industry. Last week, the state Department of Business,
Economic Development and Tourism reported September visitors
arrivals plunged 19.5% during September. The occupancy downturn was
the worst in seven years and was the seventh consecutive month that
statewide hotel usage had slid lower compared with a year earlier.
(www.HonoluluAdvertiser.com/Business)
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WALDORF-ASTORIA COMING TO PHILLY. Hilton Hotels has announced that
it will operate a Waldorf-Astoria hotel in downtown Philadelphia.
Opening is scheduled for 2012. The 58-story Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
and Residences Philadelphia will be a granite-and-glass tower that
will house 136 residences and 175 hotel rooms. The 10th floor of the
hotel will offer a 5,600-square-foot ballroom, 3,500 square feet of
function space overlooking City Hall and a 2,500-square-foot junior
ballroom that can be divided into smaller meeting rooms.
EXECUTIVES of Delta Air Lines say it will be business as usual--at
first--after federal regulators last week cleared Delta's merger
with Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airlines just
18 months after Delta emerged from bankruptcy. The $2.6 billion swap
deal--basically a takeover of Northwest, which becomes a wholly
owned subsidiary--gives Delta a global span that could help raise
Atlanta's profile as an international hub. Travelers will not notice
immediate changes to schedules, planes, check-in procedures or
frequent-flyer programs because of the merger. Delta executives plan
to gradually combine the airlines' operations over the next two
years.
When the merger is completed, officials think it will generate about
$2 billion in annual cost savings or additional revenue by melding
Delta's and Northwest's largely complementary routes. But consumer
advocates worry that the merger could lead to higher fares because
there are fewer competitors and one airline will control a greater
share of the market. Government antitrust regulators, however,
concluded last week that the merger "is not likely to substantially
lessen competition." Combined, the companies will have $35 billion
in revenues, 75,000 employees and 770 mainline jets flying routes
spanning the U.S. and reaching to Europe, Asia and Africa.
(www.AtlantaJournal-Constitution.com/Business, Sun.)
Norwegian Cruise Line became the latest company to drop its fuel
surcharge, citing the recent decrease in global fuel prices. NCL's
current fuel surcharge will no longer apply to bookings made on or
after Nov. 10, 2008, for sailings that depart on or after Jan. 1,
2010. Following a formula introduced by Carnival Corp. then tweaked
and reintroduced by Royal Caribbean Cruises, NCL has established
guidelines for the refund of fuel surcharges already paid. If the
closing price of oil in the New York Mercantile Exchange falls below
$65 a barrel two weeks prior to the beginning of a calendar quarter,
NCL will refund fuel surcharges in the form of an onboard credit to
customers taking cruises during that quarter. The formula applies to
refunds for cruises that depart in 2009 and 2010, regardless of
booking date. (www.MiamiHerald.com/Business)
CARNIVAL CORP. stock plummeted 16.5% in early trading Friday, after
the company suspended its quarterly dividend distribution for 2009.
The company has been paying dividends to shareholders every year
since 1988. Carnival said the dividend suspension would result in
annualized cash savings of approximately $1.3 billion, giving the
company the flexibility to fund its 2009 capacity growth without the
need to access credit markets."The company's cash flow remains
strong," said CEO Micky Arison in a statement. Carnival said it has
experienced a slowdown in booking volumes during the recent turmoil
in the financial markets.
THE FAMED Fountainebleau hotel in Miami Beach has recently undergone
a $500 million restoration as it chases its former glory and the
crowds of South Beach. "In its day in the ‘50s and ‘60s, the
Fontainebleau was state of the art in glamour," said Jeffrey Beers,
the New York architect responsible for an extensive update of the
interior. "We would like to restore that in spirit." When the
refurbished resort is officially unveiled on Nov. 14 with a series
of parties and a taping for television of a Victoria's Secret
fashion show, visitors will be able to judge for themselves if the
mission succeeded. The three-part renovation was conceived , in
part, to lure back fashionable crowds, which have drifted down to
South Beach.
Princess Cruises has launched a new Hawaii
cruise itinerary that will continue through April, providing a
seasonal bright spot in a visiting-cruise schedule that sank in
numbers after NCL America reduced its Hawaii-based ships from three
to one. Even with the 14 added voyages by Princess, however, overall
cruise ship tours in Hawaiian waters are expected to decline by 25%
next year, compared with 2008. What had been a booming cruise ship
passenger business has taken a hit this year, with the loss of two
NCL America vessels: the Pride of Hawaii, which departed in
February, and the Pride of Aloha, which left in mid-May. For its
2008-09 schedule, Princess Cruises put its 951-foot Golden Princess
into service in the Hawaii market. That ship offers 14-day
round-trip Hawaii cruises from Los Angeles that include calls at
Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai and Maui, through April 1, 2009. (www.Honolulu
Advertiser.com/Business)
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