Talks end between Atlas Air and pilots

Shares of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. fell Wednesday as the freight air carrier and its pilots union face a potential strike in less than a month. Earlier Wednesday, the National Mediation Board released the Purchase, N.Y., company and the Air Line Pilots Association from contract mediation on a labor agreement covering more than 700 pilots and flight engineers. As a result, Atlas Air and the union now have 30 days to settle their disputes before the employees can strike on June 28. One Wall Street analyst familiar with the situation said the sides are a “few million dollars” away in their latest proposals. Atlas, the largest shipper of freight for other airlines, operates a fleet of 37 Boeing 747 freighters.

German airship developer CargoLifter AG, whose project to build giant cargo-moving dirigibles has struggled to get off the ground, said Wednesday it can no longer pay its bills and will have to declare bankruptcy unless it secures new investment within three weeks. CargoLifter has sought to market modern versions of the zeppelin airship to move such bulky cargo as turbines and oil rigs, but serial production has been delayed in part because of high development costs. In CargoLifter’s search for a bigger partner, the company and aerospace giant Boeing Co. said this month they would explore the development of sophisticated, high-altitude blimps for use in U.S. homeland security defenses.

Kmart Corp.’s president and chief operating officer took a cautious stance and said he’s hopeful the troubled retailer can use bankruptcy protection to rebuild same-store sales, but that its restructuring plan remains uncertain. Julian Day, who joined Kmart in March, said Tuesday officials want to be thoughtful about plotting the ailing retailer’s future, despite pressure to reveal a restructuring plan. Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Jan. 22 following disappointing holiday sales and a stock dive. The retailer has struggled to compete in the discount market, and retail experts say Kmart must find a niche to set itself apart from lower-priced Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and trendier Target Corp. But Day said Kmart first has to work on its current business strategy.

Priority Mail has long billed itself as the low-cost, no-frills alternative to UPS and FedEx. But new data show that the millions of Americans who pay extra to send last-minute bills and summer-camp cookies aren’t getting their money’s worth. The latest post office statistics show that the typical Priority Mail shipment now takes more than half a day longer to reach its destination than first-class deliveries that cost as little as 34 cents. That compares to $3.50 for the cheapest Priority Mail shipment. The delivery performance lags in part because a greater portion of first-class mail is local, and thus delivered more quickly. But Priority Mail is also less reliable. One-third of Priority Mail items intended for delivery within three days didn’t hit that target in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, compared with a 19 percent miss rate for first-class mail.

-Herald wire services

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