BUSINESS BRIEFS
Airlines increase roundtrip fares by up to $60
Associated Press
Airlines ratcheted up the pressure on fliers ahead of the holiday weekend, significantly raising ticket prices to offset the runaway cost of fuel. The three biggest carriers each boosted most domestic fares by up to $60 roundtrip, while budget airline AirTran Airways raised its leisure fares by $30 roundtrip.
UAL Corp.'s United Airlines led the round of increases late yesterday, lifting roundtrip ticket prices by $10 to $60, depending on how far passengers fly and the competition on the route. Travelers will pay the biggest increase on routes of 750 miles or more — less than the distance from New York to Chicago — that low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. do not serve.
AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the biggest U.S. carrier, and No. 3 Delta Air Lines Inc. matched the increase yesterday.
The increases came just days after American said it would begin charging customers $15 to check a single piece of luggage.
Representatives from a number of other carriers, many of which are already charging $25 for a second checked bag, said they are considering following suit.
GM STOCKS FALL 5% AFTER STRIKE NEWS
DETROIT — General Motors Corp.'s stock dropped almost 5 percent yesterday after the company reported that strikes at some of its own plants and parts supplier American Axle will cost the automaker about $2 billion before taxes in the second quarter.
GM also expects to produce 230,000 fewer vehicles during the quarter because of the nearly three-month American Axle strike, which crippled its production of large sport utility vehicles and pickups. The other strikes will cost it 33,000 vehicles.
GM's shares fell 83 cents to close at $17.60, after touching $17.38 earlier in the session, their lowest level in nearly 26 years. The last time GM traded below $17.46 was Oct. 6, 1982, when it was at $17.32, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago.
YAHOO AIMS TO STOP BOARD OUSTER
NEW YORK — Yahoo Inc.'s board is urging shareholders not to sign or return proxy cards sent to them in connection with activist investor Carl Icahn's efforts to replace the company's current directors.
Icahn, who like many shareholders is upset with the company's handling of Microsoft Corp.'s last offer of $47.5 billion for the company, has nominated a slate of candidates to replace Yahoo's current directors.
In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday and yesterday, the Internet icon said its board urges shareholders "to disregard any proxy card sent to you by the Icahn Entities or any person other than Yahoo."
The filings also stated that even if voters signed a proxy card sent by Icahn entities, they have the right to change their votes via phone, Internet or mail.
GAS PRICES RISE 20% IN PAST YEAR
NEW YORK — Gas prices, which took another jump higher overnight, are up nearly 20 percent, or 65 cents a gallon, over the past year to average nearly $3.88 a gallon nationally. But unlike this time last year, when gas prices were at their peak for 2007, pump prices now show no signs of halting their daily assault on the record books.
Nationally, the price of a gallon of regular gas rose 4.4 cents overnight to a record average of $3.875, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices are headed even higher in coming days because of oil's dramatic rally this week to a record of more than $135 a barrel.
Oil prices fluctuated yesterday as investors placed bets before the long holiday weekend. Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $1.38 to settle at $132.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after alternating between gains and losses.
