Business & Finance
Readying for possible bankruptcy, American Airlines is trying to line up $2 billion in prearranged financing, reports said. Last week, the chief of its flight attendants union warned members that such a filing could come soon unless the carrier secures $1.8 billion in yearly labor concessions. American would be the third major airline to declare bankruptcy. United and US Airways Group did so last year.
Elsewhere in the troubled airline industry:
• Delta warned Monday that it expects to lose money in the current quarter, reversing January's prediction of a slight gain. The US's third-largest carrier said bookings are down due to concerns about possible war with Iraq.
• Japan Airlines announced it will cut 3,600 jobs over the next three years, citing a downturn in international travel due to war worries. Almost all of the reductions will affect ground-crew operations in Japan, the company said.
A management row at Ford Motor Co. may be put before its board of directors this week, The Wall Street Journal said. President Nick Scheele, already under pressure to boost lagging performance, reportedly is under internal investigation for ordering that all Ford advertising be directed to WPP Group of London. Scheele's son works for a WPP subsidiary in New York.
A $29 billion hostile takeover bid for the second-largest electric utility in Spain appears headed for rejection, the financial news service Bloomberg.com reported. Citing analysts and investors close to the situation, it said Iberdrola SA of Bilbao likely will spurn the offer from former monopoly Gas Natual SDG because "the timing is not right." Gas Natural of Barcelona also tried to buy Iberdrola three years ago.
Troubled Corus Group announced it will shut down some steelmaking operations in Britain, a decision likely to affect thousands of workers. It also said it will challenge in court Monday's decision by its Dutch subsidiary to renege on the sale of four aluminum plants to a rival for almost $1 billion. The Dutch company's management decided against going through with the sale after workers objected and demanded that Corus take austerity measures in Britain instead. Corus has five facilities and about 26,000 employees in Britain, or half its global workforce.