=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2008/06/06/BUVR11443U= .DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, June 6, 2008 (SF Chronicle) DAILY DIGEST Victoria Colliver American: Bag fee to affect 1 in 4 summer passengers American Airlines says its new $15 fee for a first checked bag will affe= ct fewer than 1 in 4 customers this summer and won't lengthen lines at boarding gates. The carrier said Thursday that it's taking steps, from curbside check-in to the aircraft cabins, to avoid disruptions from the new policy. American was the first major airline to announce it would charge custome= rs to check a single piece of luggage. The fee takes effect on tickets bought on or after June 15. American said three-quarters of summer travelers had already bought their tickets and wouldn't pay the fee. Members of the elite levels of American's frequent-flier program won't have to pay the fee, and neither will those who bought first-class, business-class or full-fare coach tickets or are traveling overseas. Mark DuPont, American's vice president of airport services planning, said the airline is training employees and updating software on ticket agents' computers and self-service kiosks to collect the fee and handle an expected increase in carry-on bags. "We don't really know what to expect," he said. "Our policy is going to be to expect the worst." Associated Press S&P cuts rating of 2 bond insurers Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said Thursday it cut the financi= al strength rating on bond insurers MBIA and Ambac Financial Group to AA from AAA, a day after Moody's said it was considering doing the same thing. S&P said it cut the crucial ratings because the companies face a decline in new business and financial flexibility. Fitch Ratings has already downgraded both MBIA and Ambac to AA. Some analysts suspect that without a AAA rating from at least two of the ratings agencies, the bond insurers will go into a status known as run-off - collecting payments and making claims on existing policies but writing no new business. More defaults on mortgages has ratings agencies worried there will be an increase in claims payments in the coming months, as bonds backed by those mortgages are likely to default. The rise in claims would cut into cash reserves for some bond insurers and potentially put others out of business. Associated Press Mortgage rates hit 3-month high Rates on 30-year mortgages edged up this week to the highest level since March as investors worried about inflation threats. The mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-ra= te mortgages averaged 6.09 percent, compared with 6.08 percent last week. It was the highest mark for 30-year mortgages in 12 weeks. Other types of mortgages declined. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were at 5.65 percent, compared with 5.66 percent last week. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages dipped to 5.51 percent from 5.62 percent last week. One-year ARMs fell to 5.06 percent from 5.22 percent. Associated Press State fines, cites 2 nursing homes State regulators fined a Walnut Creek nursing home $60,000 and gave the facility the highest citation under state law for failing to provide a patient with emergency care, which led to the 56-year-old man's death. Staff members at Care Center of Rossmoor did not follow proper procedures to help the unidentified patient breathe after they encountered difficulties changing his tracheostomy tube in November, according to a report by the California Department of Public Health. The facility has been the subject of three lower-level enforcement actions since 2004. Department officials also announced Thursday they levied a $100,000 fine, the highest penalty allowed, against Atherton Healthcare in Menlo Park. The department determined the nursing home failed to properly evaluate a= nd care for a 48-year-old woman with a progressive disease and a history of falling to prevent accidents. The patient died in December after she was injured in a fall. It was assessed three smaller fines since 2006. The state routinely cites nursing homes in an effort to improve care at California's 1,400 skilled nursing homes. The state has the power to shut down a home, but would do so only as a last resort to avoid disrupting care for patients, said Ken August, spokesman for the department. For more information, visit cdph.ca.gov. - Victoria Colliver Comcast will boost its download speeds Comcast Corp. said Thursday that by early 2010 it plans to offer custome= rs in most of its markets Internet service so fast they will be able to download a high-definition movie in minutes. The nation's second-largest Internet service provider - and biggest cable TV operator - will offer speeds above 100 Mbps in 20 percent of its markets by the end of 2008, Comcast senior vice president Marlene Dooner said at a conference in London. Associated Press U.S. carmakers close the productivity gap Detroit automakers nearly erased the North American productivity gap with their Asian rivals in 2007 thanks to worker buyouts, leaner plants and other improvements, but they still make less money per vehicle because of higher costs, according to the Harbour Report on manufacturing released Thursday. Toyota Motor Corp. and Chrysler LLC led the industry in productivity, ea= ch averaging 30.37 hours to fully assemble a vehicle. That was a 7.7 percent improvement for Chrysler from 2006, but a 1.5 percent drop for Toyota. Toyota's inefficiencies were largely due to the rapid shift away from trucks and sport utilities as gas prices rose, according to analyst Ron Harbour. Honda Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor C= o. followed Toyota and Chrysler, with a productivity gap of no more than 3 1/2 hours, down from a gap of as much as eight hours five years ago. Associated Press Investment firms borrow less from Fed Wall Street companies are scaling back their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program. A Fed report Thursday says the investment firms averaged $8.26 billion in daily borrowing over the past week, down from $12.33 billion the previous week. The investment houses were given privileges similar to those of commerci= al banks in March after a run on Bear Stearns pushed the nation's fifth-largest investment bank to the brink of bankruptcy. Associated Press -------------------------------------------------------= --------------- Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".