The Indiana Supreme Court said today that insurance carriers are not required to pay power utilities’ costs to install pollution equipment or to pay utilities’ legal costs to defend against lawsuits that forced them to upgrade air quality. The 17-page, unanimous opinion upheld a decision by Hendricks Superior Judge David H. Coleman denying a motion […]
A long-expected announcement that IBM will locate a call center in Daleville is being scheduled for Monday. The building, formerly owned by Burlington Motor Carriers, will host as many as 500 workers, according to The Star Press of Muncie. The center is thought to handle calls from IBM business customers.
The addition of 39 regional jets and resulting increase in passenger traffic helped fuel a 14.1-percent improvement in first-quarter profit for Republic Airways Holdings Inc., the Indianapolis carrier said yesterday. The parent of Chautauqua and Republic airlines and Shuttle America reported $19.3 million in net income. Republic also said its plans to add 54 regional […]
The biggest acquisition in the 34-year history of ATA Airlines will steer it closer to its charter roots and further from a scheduled-service binge that led to bankruptcy three years ago. Analysts say the $315 million deal to buy Atlanta-based World Air Holdings will broaden the revenue base and bring economies of scale for ATA’s newly renamed parent, Global Aero Logistics. It also hands ATA a cargo business worth $100 million in 2005. The deal should give the Manhattan vulture…
Dura Automotive Systems Inc. of Rochester Hills, Mich., said today that its Brownstown plant is among four it plans to close to improve efficiency. The Brownstown site, which employs 114 workers manufacturing spare tire carriers, winches and toolkits, is in southern Indiana, an hour’s drive from Bloomington. Other Dura plants slated for closing are in […]
Not only did airport tenant FedEx cancel its order for the cargo version of the “superjumbo” last November, but no other carriers have indicated they’ll likely use the super-jumbo here, said airport Director Patrick Dooley. Nor, Dooley added, is there a compelling case to be made for taxiway upgrades merely as a contingency for A380’s being diverted here occasionally from Chicago’s O’Hare International or other airports. So managers are removing all references to the A380 in a long-range airport plan…
Evansville Regional Airport plans to ask US Airways Inc. to resume flights to Indianapolis six years after the Tempe, Ariz., carrier pulled back in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Airport Manager Nelson Bailes also hopes to persuade the airline to fly between Indianapolis and South Bend, according to the Evansville Courier & Press […]
Indianapolis airport officials are considering building a smaller version of FedEx’s 2-million-square-foot hub here, one
that could accommodate several cargo carriers from around the globe. The “international air cargo facility” could be up to
several hundred thousand square feet large and could cost tens of millions of dollars to build.
BRIAN WILLIAMS Commentary Good legislation to promote good health The newly elected and re-elected men and women of the Indiana General Assembly will debate and vote on many issues of importance during the 2007 session. One legislative proposal upon which members of the General Assembly and governor should quickly reach consensus is the proposal put forth in House Bill 1160, authored by Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, and Senate Bill 114, authored by Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, that would change the…
The designers of a pay-for-performance plan for doctors are about to put their theories to work. The Quality Health 1st of Indiana program will start testing its unique system for measuring performance in the next three months, and it might lead to bonus payments for doctors by the second half of 2007. Big in-state insurers like M-Plan Inc. and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana back the initiative, and several large doctor groups have signed up, too, said…
Republic Airways Holdings said it plans to hire more than 1,000 pilots by the end of 2008, swelling its pilot ranks to 2,600. The Indianapolis-based holding company said its carriers—Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America—need more pilots to keep pace with Republic’s partnerships with American, Continental, United and Delta airlines. Republic will begin service […]
One of the nation’s most prominent aviation schools is giving Indianapolis another chance. After withstanding a plunge in enrollment, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is adding five degree programs at its center here, with most of them aimed at careers outside the turbulent commercial aviation sector. It also plans to expand beyond its local student base of mostly working adults to court recent high school grads. Though in Indianapolis for 13 years, Embry-Riddle has had all the profile here of a stealth…
Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. have engaged in talks about merging after they emerge from bankruptcy protection, according to The Wall Street Journal. Northwest is the largest carrier at Indianapolis International Airport, carrying approximately 22 percent of all passengers. Earlier today, US Airways Inc. said it boosted its offer for Delta to […]
US Airways has boosted its offer for bankrupt Delta Air Lines Inc. to $10.2 billion, after Atlanta-based Delta rejected an initial, $8 billion offer in November. The latest offer expires Feb. 1. US Airways CEO Doug Parker said the sweetened bid is intended to “eliminate any doubt” of a better deal for Delta’s unsecured […]
ATA Airlines said today it is filling more seats on its aircraft. The Indianapolis-based carrier said its scheduled service passenger load factor increased 3.3 points, to 79.1 percent, compared with December 2005. Scheduled service traffic was down 15.4 percent and total passengers fell 32 percent, to 217,029, in December. But comparisons are difficult because ATA […]
Everyone says owning a restaurant is hard work. But for Tracy Robertson, not owning one has been much harder. Robertson’s restaurant, the 745 Bar & Grill, hasn’t served a burger or a beer since the afternoon of Jan. 25, 2005. That’s when the 745 literally fell into a hole. A cook, a bartender and five patrons escaped just moments before the restaurant collapsed into the excavation pit for what is now the 757 Mass Ave condominium building. In an instant,…
Several Hoosiers are at the forefront of a fledgling effort to deflect a growing barrage of criticism lobbed at retail giant Wal-Mart Stores by organized labor and worker’s rights advocates. The Indiana chapter of the Working Families for Wal-Mart formed earlier this month and includes in its membership local elected officials such as City-County Councilor Ron Gibson and State Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis. The national not-for-profit, which launched a year ago, is backed by the Arkansas-based retailer and also boasts…
Indianapolis-based National Catastrophe Adjusters will move next spring to a new, more permanent home in Fishers. The company broke ground this month on the two-story, 13,000-square-foot office at the corner of Windermere Boulevard and Olympia Drive off of 96th Street. NCA hopes to move in by the end of April. Its office is now at the intersection of 75th Street and Shadeland Avenue. NCA decided to build because it wanted a permanent home, said Ken Averitt, chief operations officer. The…
ATA, the incredibly shrinking airline that once was the busiest at Indianapolis International Airport, appears to have shrunk in a favorable category-its financial losses. The Indianapolis-based carrier that ended scheduled service here in January had a loss of $5.27 million in the second quarter, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now privately owned, ATA Holdings Corp. lost $26.3 million during the second quarter in its domestic operations, according to DOT. But it earned $21 million in…
Westerners have been dreaming about the riches of the Far East for centuries. Christopher Columbus didn’t set out to discover America. He was looking for a faster route to India and China. More than 500 years later, the dream is not completely fulfilled, but riches can still be had, as long as you have some to begin with. I just returned from Singapore. This tiny nation-state is the most densely populated country on earth, and it is smack dab in…
