FAA upgrade will cost fliers
The Bush administration’s long-awaited plan to pay for a new, high-tech air traffic control system would eliminate the passenger ticket tax but raise other costs for people who fly.
The Federal Aviation Administration will unveil its proposal tday.
The announcement will touch off a fierce debate between airlines, which support the concept, and owners of corporate jets and private aircraft, who will pay more to fly in the national airspace.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, who outlined the plan in recent budget briefings, says the aging air traffic control system urgently needs replacing to avoid gridlock.
The World War II-era radar-and-radio system is becoming obsolete as new digital technology provides pilots with satellite signals to aid in aerial navigation.
The FAA hasn’t said exactly how much it expects a modernized system to cost.
Though the passenger ticket tax would be eliminated, another ticket tax that pays for airport improvements – called passenger facility charges – would go up. The fuel tax for corporate and private aircraft would more than triple.
Honolulu
Pineapple sales hit record low
Fresh pineapple production and sales last year hit their lowest levels since the state began keeping records on the industry more than half a century ago.
And the outlook for 2007 is even worse following Del Monte Fresh Produce’s closing of operations on Oahu.
Last year’s crop was estimated at about $75.5 million, down from $79.3 million in 2005, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Hawaii.
That drop came despite an increase in the fresh market farm price up to $630 a ton compared with $600 the previous year.
Detroit
GM announces sales incentives
General Motors Corp. on Tuesday announced sales incentives on certain models sold in most of the United States through Feb. 20.
Zero percent financing for 36 or 60 months is available, as is $500 bonus cash, the Detroit-based automaker said.
Qualifying models include some 2006-07 Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles. Cadillac, Hummer and Saab vehicles are excluded.