Sprint and AT&T to cough up $1.5 million on unfair practices charge
Washington: Sprint Corp and AT&T have agreed to pay a total of nearly $1.5 million to settle the US government charges that they denied or limited phone service to several customers they considered credit risks.

While Sprint agreed to pay a penalty of $1.1 million, AT&T will pay $365,000.

While it is permissible to deny or restrict service because of credit concerns, the Federal Trade Commission said neither company gave affected customers an opportunity to obtain a free credit report and or challenge its accuracy.
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US Airways files for bankruptcy again
Washington: US Airways Group Inc, America's seventh largest airline, has filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years. In the meantime, the company's president vowed to continue restructuring the airline into a low-cost carrier during the bankruptcy process.

The Chapter 11 filing in US Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria, Virginia came after US Airways was unable to obtain $800 million in annual cost cuts from its workers' unions that the airline said it needed to stay afloat.

According to the company its goal is to transform itself into a low cost carrier, so that eventually customers could "be able to fly on US Airways with lower, simplified prices." But he admitted the airline was still operating with high cost structures.

After the US Airways made a last-ditch effort to reach a deal with the pilots, offering a proposal with minimum pay cuts that would have required more flight hours each month, a deeply divided pilots union refused to allow its membership to vote on a company proposal that would have cut pay by 20 per cent and retirement plan contributions by 50 per cent.

The government loaned the airline $900 million last year as part of a special program to assist airlines after the September 11 attacks. The airline still owes the US government $718 million, and it will ultimately be up to a bankruptcy court to determine the government's place in line among creditors.
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