Charles de Gaulle Airport to have new terminal for SkyTeam
Paris: Aeroports de Paris (ADP) will soon open its new terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle International Airport (Paris) for SkyTeam members — Air France, Aeromexico, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air. ADP has planned to invest euro 3 billion in infrastructure in 2003-07 to strengthen handling capacity, modernise its facilities and improve quality of service. It has already invested euro 700 million entirely from internal accruals without any external aid or subsidies while Air France invested euro 50 million in the project. ADPs’ terminal 2E, scheduled to open on June 17, 2003, will be exclusively used by the SkyTeam members, Air France chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta said. Alitalia, another member of the SkyTeam, which operates intra-continental flights from Charles de Gaulle, will be based in terminal 2F. The new terminal is stated to be one of SkyTeam’s largest co-location facilities in the world. “Terminal 2E is a major asset to the alliance’s development strategy. This operational set-up reinforces our powerful Paris hub and provides passengers travelling through Paris with easier access to SkyTeam’s global network,” Spinetta said
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US govt may suspend business with WorldCom
Washington: The US administration is considering suspending its business with WorldCom, whose $11-billion accounting scandal last year led to the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. WorldCom's government contracts are valued at more than $1 billion each year. Critics and competitors say the government has been too lenient with the company by continuing to award it work, including hiring WorldCom to build a wireless phone network in Iraq.The inspector general of the General Services Administration, the government's contracting agency, has referred a review of WorldCom's federal business to an official in charge of suspensions, GSA spokeswoman Mary Alice Johnson said on Friday. "The process of determining whether to suspend or debar WorldCom is active and ongoing," Johnson said.Under federal rules, a suspension of up to a year would temporarily disqualify WorldCom from doing business with the government while an investigation is under way. Debarment, a decision based on more conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, can exclude the company from government business for a period typically not longer than three years.
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SEC may sue 2 former Lucent officials: Report
Chicago: US securities regulators have informed two former executives of Lucent Technologies Inc. that they may be subject to civil action related to the telecom equipment maker's aggressive sales techniques three years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that the so-called Wells notices were issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to Nina Aversano, former head of North American Sales, and William Plunkett, former senior vice president of sales. Wells notices give advance warning of a possible civil case. The SEC typically provides someone 30 days to respond to a Wells notice, although in cases where the agency is worried someone may be a flight risk no notice will be issued.
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PeopleSoft board rejects Oracle takeover bid
Palo Alto: Business software maker PeopleSoft Inc on Thursday said that its board had unanimously rejected a $5.1 billion hostile takeover bid from Oracle Corp, and its preferred merger partner, JD Edwards & Co, asked a court to stop Oracle's bid. Oracle, the No 2 global software maker, said that the legal manoeuver from JD Edwards had "no merit" and that its executives would take to the road to convince PeopleSoft shareholders to sell the company out from under the directors. Shares of PeopleSoft, meanwhile, remained above the offer price of $16 a share made by Oracle last week, leading some analysts to question whether Oracle would sweeten its offer. PeopleSoft, which was blindsided by the hostile bid as it was preparing a merger with smaller rival JD Edwards that would have vaulted it ahead of Oracle in business application software, dismissed any chance of an Oracle deal.
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Standards group gives go-ahead to faster Wi-Fi
New York: An international technical group on Thursday gave its stamp of approval to wireless technology that can transmit data two to five times faster than existing short-range network gear known as "Wi-Fi." Approval from The Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers, a technology industry standards-setting body, could encourage business to use gear based on the new standard called 802.11g, analysts said. "This approval will accelerate the process," said W.R. Hambrecht analyst Satya Chillara, who expects that 2003 Wi-Fi sales will top the previous three years altogether. But consumers have already bought more than 6 million products based on "g" this year and businesses will begin buying it next year, "when technology budgets are freed up", according to Chillara. The new standard works with gear based on the existing Wi-Fi standard, called 802.11b, and runs at theoretical speeds of up to 54 megabits, or millions of bits per second, compared with "b"'s 11 megabits per second theoretical speed.
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Boeing to cut 270 jobs
Seattle: Boeing Co is cutting about 270 technical employees and will outsource their jobs abroad, according to a published report.
The affected employees produce technical publications that Boeing provides to its airline customers, including maintenance manuals and service bulletins, The Seattle Times reported on Thursday. "After careful study, we've decided to change the long-term business model for that work by transferring it to companies with a lower cost base," Boeing spokeswoman Jill Langer told the Times. The first layoff notices were already going out, and the work would begin to move out in the fourth quarter of this year, with added layoffs following over the next two years, with a total job loss of about 270 jobs, the newspaper reported. Langer told the paper that Boeing was considering outsourcing other areas of fleet services and support. Separately, Boeing said on Thursday that it would outline plans at next week's Paris Air Show for the development of a new version of the long-haul 747 jet
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