BUSINESS BRIEFS
Planes mostly filled in July
Advertiser Staff and News Services
U.S. air travelers faced some of the most crowded jetliners ever in July as at least seven major carriers reported record percentages of filled seats.
American, Continental, Delta, US Airways, AirTran and Alaska Airlines announced their most crowded planes for any month, with nearly 90 percent of all seats full on domestic flights.
Southwest reported a record for July, historically one of any year's busiest travel months. And Northwest was up slightly from July 2006, with more than 88 percent of seats filled.
SMALLER PAGES AT N.Y. TIMES
NEW YORK — The New York Times is moving to a smaller format starting today, cutting 1 1/2 inches from its width and moving to what is becoming a newspaper industry standard of 12 inches.
The change, which the company originally announced a year ago, will result in cost savings of about $10 million per year, spokeswoman Diane McNulty said.
The Honolulu Advertiser and several major newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, already have adopted the 12-inch format.
Newspaper publishers are looking for various ways to save money. Advertising revenues have been slumping across the newspaper industry amid shifting reader habits, declining circulation and a migration of readers and advertising dollars to the Internet.
BEAR STEARNS' HEAD OUSTED
NEW YORK — Bear Stearns Cos. ousted co-President Warren Spector after credit-market losses and eroding investor confidence increased pressure for management changes at the second-largest underwriter of securities tied to the slumping U.S. housing market.
The board of the nation's fifth-biggest securities firm agreed yesterday that Alan D. Schwartz, 57, will become sole president, the company said in a statement. Bear Stearns, founded on Wall Street in 1923, has lost 33 percent of its stock market value this year.
EX-HOME DEPOT CHIEF AT CHRYSLER
DETROIT — In its first major move as the new owner of Chrysler, Cerberus Capital Management will name the former head of Home Depot, Bob Nardelli, as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker.
In making Nardelli the top executive at Chrysler, Cerberus, a New York private equity firm, is picking a man who was one of the finalists to replace Jack Welch at General Electric before Nardelli headed to Home Depot in 2000. At Home Depot, he stirred controversy for his management style and pay package, but also doubled sales and store operations.
