Airlines begin cutbacks

Northwest Airlines announced plans Friday to cut 4,900 jobs and reduce its flight schedule by 12 percent, while United Airlines said it will trim its schedule by about 8 percent and lay off an undetermined number of workers.

Northwest said it would use layoffs, attrition, voluntary leaves and leave open positions unfilled to make the job cuts. A relief package including pay, medical coverage and flight privileges will be offered to the affected employees, the airline said.

The cuts include 2,000 mechanics, 1,400 flight attendants, 630 baggage handlers and customer service agents, 250 pilots, 125 cleaners, 300 management and 150 clerical positions, and 40 stock clerks, said Paul Volker, legislative officer for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. Local 33.

Northwest has already laid off about 12,000 employees.

Investigation: HealthSouth halted again

The New York Stock Exchange halted trading in HealthSouth Corp. for a third day Friday as it considered whether to quit listing the rehabilitation services company that has been accused of massive accounting fraud.

The exchange said trading “may or may not resume,” depending on the outcome of a review. A spokeswoman for the exchange, Robin Verhose, declined comment on when trading might continue.

HealthSouth, meanwhile, issued a statement trying to reassure investors, employees and creditors it could continue doing business despite government charges earlier this week that it overstated earnings by $1.4 billion since 1999.

Kansas City: Phone merger completed

Telephone companies Birch Telecom Inc. and Ionex Telecom Inc. have finalized their merger, creating a larger company that will compete with SBC Communications Inc.

Company officials said Thursday they had won the necessary regulatory approval to close the deal, announced in January.

The merger will result in about 200 layoffs, said David E. Scott, Birch’s chief executive. The combined company, which now has about 1,800 workers, will be headed by Scott and based in Kansas City. It will retain the Birch name.

The combined company will have more than 500,000 telephone lines and generate $350 million in annual revenues.

Newspaper: J-W seeks comment on stock listings

The Journal-World is considering changes in the way it presents listings of stocks, mutual funds and information on other financial markets. We would like to hear what type of financial information you want and need. In the past we have tried to provide listings for a wide variety of companies and funds of local interest, based on what we’ve heard from our readers.

Please let us know if there are companies or funds you would like to see in the Journal-World’s listings. If there are other features you’d like to see, we’d like to hear about those, too.

Send your suggestions to Managing Editor Richard Brack at rbrack@ljworld.com or by mail at Lawrence Journal-World, P.O. Box 888, Lawrence, 66044.