Business Channel 2006-12-17&20

I am not, ah,real, real tall, but I do like to get those extra-large, exit row seats, because it just is a more comfortable way of traveling. Well, JetBlue is now trying to make more legroom for everyone. The discount airline announced that it would increase passenger legroom by removing a row from each plane in its A320 fleet. The removal of 6 seats means 4 more inches of space for passengers in the front of the plane. Exit rows and seats in the back of the plane, Virginia, will remain unchanged though.

--Well, you can't have everything. You know, Val, the airline industry, of course, as you know, is very competitive, so how can Jet afford, JetBlue afford to do this?

--Well, the answer really is not that surprising, because not only can JetBlue afford the change, but the seat removal, they have extra incentive 1 because it's actually gonna save the carrier money. Follow closely, I'll try to explain. Losing 6 seats means reducing the total seat number to 150. Since one flight attendant is required for every 50 passengers, this means an A320 plane can reduce the number of attendants from 4 to 3. There will also be the fuel savings 2 due to the lighter 3 weight of the aircraft, and with the change, JetBlue expects to save 30 million dollars over 5 years. The airline assures us that there will not be a fare hike either, Virginia.

--Can we get that in writing(Oh, No.) All right, you're covering something today that, I think, most of us here at CNN can relate to. It shows that Americans are using all forms of media more than ever. Can you talk about that?

--Oh, yes, this is according to statistics in a new government report, and it says media use has risen every year since the start of the decade. In fact, Americans spend more time watching TV, listening to the radio, surfing the Internet and reading newspapers than almost anything else .The hunger and sometimes even the addiction 4 to media consumption has been helped by faster and easier ways to get information and entertainment, Nicole.

--So, Val, just how many hours of consumption (… Virginia, I'm sorry) are we talking about here?
--Yeah,
--Ah, OK, here we go, we spend an average of 9.5 hours a day with various media, however, hours spent doing two things at once, like listening to the radio while you read the newspaper, those were double counted in the report. Topping the list, television, which we spend 4.5 hours a day with at least, followed by radio and the Internet, newspaper, coming in last, so this question for you, Virginia, do you think Pipeline 5 counts for both TV and Internet?
--Em, that's a good question, maybe they have to come up (I think) with a new category.
--I think we can double dip in both categories. This Pipeline…--I think you are...
--It covers everything.
--Absolutely, as we like to do. (Emm hmm) OK, let's move on to brass 6 tacks 7(tax), what about Wall Street? How does that do today?
--Oh, another record high, the Dow Industrials ended, added to, ah, Thursday's all-time record, helped by some good economic news. The Consumer Price Index was unchanged in November indicating that inflation is under control. Dow Industrials gained 28 points to close at 12,445; that represents nearly a quarter of a percent increase. The NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500 edged up just fractionally.



brass tacks (n.) the most important facts or details of something