Fortune interviewed American Airlines' CEO Gerard Arpey, who had this to say:

In this climate, Arpey won't rule anything out. If Delta were able to complete its purchase of Northwest, American would be toppled from its perch as world's largest carrier. And a combined United and Continental would be even larger. That would leave American in arguably the weakest position among the network carriers. But Arpey says the size of his company doesn't matter as much as the strength of its assets. "We believe we will remain competitive irrespective of any consolidation that occurs," he said. "The real challenge is being profitable."

Later, as we were walking down the jet bridge, Arpey paused. "There is no business," he said, "that can go on forever selling its product for less than the cost to produce it."

Mergers would allow airlines to trim routes and, by reducing capacity, further raise prices, though carriers say that's not the plan. (Riiiiight.) This is all good news to one company, though. Virgin America is keeping fares low by burning through investor cash...

American Airlines loses $3.3 million a day[Fortune]
Airlines Finally Passing Higher Costs on to Passengers [Jaunted]
(Photo:Zonaphoto)

On a normal day, losing some cable channels for a couple of hours would be an inconvenience. On a day like today, some might use words unfit for publishing. You see, today was the first game of the Red Sox and A's seasons, played in Japan. The game started at 6AM EST, and plenty of die hard baseball fans rose early to watch... nothing. Comcast gave me a $2 credit for my troubles. There's nothing like a $2 credit to make me feel valued as a customer.

I'm not even sure what to do. It seems that the problem was so widespread across TV carriers that there's nobody to run to. Let this be a lesson to everyone: to be sure you'll see the game, buy an overpriced ticket.

Jeff

DirecTV out? [Boston.com]
(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

It was the fourth week in a row that carriers have raised ticket prices, and the second round of increases led by Chicago-based United, the second-largest U.S. airline, in as many weeks, according to a tally by airline ticket pricing Web site FareCompare.com.

United's higher fares went into effect late Thursday, hours after crude oil prices surged to a new record of $111 a barrel. The increase is unusual for its size. Most recent fare increases have been limited to about $10 round-trip.

"It's like the jump in (oil prices) has totally changed the playing field," FareCompare.com Chief Executive Rick Seaney said.

United spokesman Robin Urbanski said the higher fares are based on the length of the flight, meaning that trips of under 500 miles will cost travelers $4 to $10 more round-trip. Journeys of more than 1,500 miles are now $12 to $50 more expensive than before the increase, she added.

Atlanta and Seattle, Boston and Denver, and San Francisco and Philadelphia were among the thousands of city pairs that will now cost travelers $50 more round-trip on United, Seaney said.

"They obviously have some metrics that say, 'these are our less competitive markets,'" he said.

The move comes just a week after United raised its domestic fuel surcharge by an additional $6 to $10 per round trip, effectively raising fares. United's fuel surcharge now stands at $50 round-trip in markets where the airline does not compete against low-cost carriers, Urbanski said.

"Fuel is our highest expense. The cost of it clearly continues to rise," Urbanski said. "We must be able to pass along these costs just like other businesses do."

United Raises Fares by Up to $50 [AP]
(Photo:tiangotlost)

"I was trying to give my sister some candy and when I looked at it, it had a razor blade in it," said Chris, 10-years-old. His mother asked that we not use his last name.

The Pokemon cards and Valentines Day candy is imported from China by Sherwood Brands. In a recorded message Thursday Dollar General ordered all Pokemon candy and two others removed from store shelves.

"The items are the Pokemon cards and valentines candy. Dog valentine and pops and 20 strip, or 20 count strip Heart pops. Removing these items from the sales floor must become your most important priority today," said the recording from Dollar General Headquarters in Tennessee.

Importer Recalls Valentine Lollipops [AP]
(AP Photo/Polk County Sheriff's Office)

During a conference call with analysts and media, Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson said 2008 will be difficult, but the company sees the potential for significant earnings increases by 2010 or 2011 once it reduces its work force and labor costs and transfers its retiree health-care costs to a new UAW-run trust.

The Detroit-based automaker said it was offering a new round of buyouts to all 74,000 of its U.S. hourly workers who are represented by the United Auto Workers.

GM won't say how many workers it hopes to shed, but under its new contract with the UAW, it will be able to replace up to 16,000 workers doing non-assembly jobs with new employees who will be paid half the old wage of $28 per hour.

GM posts $38.7B loss for 2007, offers buyouts to 74,000 hourly workers [LA Times]
(Photo:RebekahSue)

No one seems to know how the people were injured, but they were taken to a Denver area hospital for treatment. The airplane was checked out at Denver and then continued on.

"We don't have their conditions at this time," said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. "We'll be conducting a complete investigation. We currently don't have details about exactly what happened."
...
United's maintenance employees reviewed the Boeing 757, and "everything checked out okay," McCarthy said. After getting a new crew, the plane left to continue onto Chicago at 5:44 a.m. this morning. It arrived in Chicago at 9:40 a.m.

10 hurt on turbulent United flight [Denver Post]
(Photo:Peter Kaminski)

Goldman analyst William Tanona wasn't thrilled with Citigroup's decision to pink-slip its CEO:

"The lack of leadership at this point in Citi's storied history could not have come at a worse time," Goldman analyst William Tanona wrote in a note to clients. "With deteriorating consumer and housing metrics, Citigroup is facing mounting pressure across many businesses."

Goldman estimated Citigroup will have to book $15 billion in write-downs over the next two quarters related to its $43 billion in exposure to complex securities called collateralized debt obligations. Citigroup already has said it expects to see a loss of $8 billion to $11 billion on those positions. Goldman expects the bank to take the full $11 billion hit and then another write-down of $4 billion in the first quarter, an estimate based on weakness in indices that serve as proxies for the value of mortgage-related securities.

The situation isn't very sunny outside of the investment-banking unit, either. Citigroup will feel "the pain" of a worsening consumer-credit environment in its retail banking and cards divisions, the Goldman note said.

"We haven't seen the full pass-through yet," Energy Information Administration head Guy Caruso said.

Today's national average is $3.105, up 39% from last year. Oil prices have risen approximately $20 a barrel in the past two months, and gas prices are up $0.30.

Drivers' price at the pump could rise by 20 cents [USAToday]
(Photo:amanjo)

From the AP, emphasis ours:

Washington Mutual said its loan loss provision for the quarter will total $975 million. The provision exceeds net charge-offs — loans written off as having no chance of being recovered — by $550 million. Loss provisions, on top of paying current charge-offs, are used to cover future losses.

The company will also write down the value of various loans and portfolios by about $410 million.
...
Rising delinquencies and defaults among mortgages, especially subprime loans given to customers with poor credit history, have led to the near disappearance of investors willing to buy the loans in the secondary markets and forced lenders to reserve more cash for losses.

Washington Mutual 3Q Earnings to Tumble [AP]
(Photo:cmorran123)

Fun!

Not all states are affected by this recall, so listen up.

If you live in:

• Mississippi
  
• Alabama
  
• Southeastern Missouri
  
• Western Georgia
  
• Southwestern Tennessee
  
• Southeastern Louisiana
  or
  
• The Florida Panhandle
  

Metal Bread List:

Colonial Wheat Sandwich 20 oz., 5040023502

Schnucks Wheat Sandwich 24 oz., 2412601044

Earthgrains Honey Wheat Berry, 5040072709

Flavorite Wheat Sand. 20 oz., 4113002364

Foodland Wheat Bread 20 oz., 4130320964

Golden Bake Wheat Bread 20 oz., 5040008505

Grissom's Wheat Bread 20 oz., 5193370220

Grissoms 24oz. Wheat Sand., 5193370300

IGA 20oz. Wheat, 4127003695

Great Value Split Top Bread 20 oz., 7874206274

Great Value 24 oz. Wheat Sand, 7874228543

Piggly Wiggly Wheat Bread 20 oz., 5040000118

Publix Honey Wheat, 4141539095

Publix 100% Stoneground, 4141539190

Publix Wheat 20 oz., 4141539290

Publix Stone Ground Wheat 20 oz., 4141539390

Shurfresh Split Top Wheat 20 oz., 1116144835

EarthGrains 100% Natural Wheat Berry, 5040072748

EarthGrains 100% Natural 7-Grain, 5040072747

EarthGrains 100% Natural Whole Wheat, 5040072746

Sara Lee Delightful Wheat, 7294571706

Sara Lee Delightful 100% Whole Wheat, 7294571589

Sara Lee Delightful 100% Multi-Grain, 7294571588

Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious 100% Whole Wheat with Honey, 7294560152

Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious 100% Whole Wheat, 7294560157

Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious 100% Multi-Grain, 7294560158

Sara Lee Deli Style 100% Whole Wheat, 7294561001

Don't eat metal bread!

Precautionary Bread Recall Alert Issued for Sslected Whole Wheat Fresh Bread Products (PDF) [Sara Lee]