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business Tuesday 29 december 2020
Southwest pulls threat of

furloughs after relief bill signed

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest
Airlines is lifting the threat
of furloughs or pay cuts for
thousands of workers now
that U.S. airlines will get up
to $15 billion more in tax-
payer aid contained in the
coronavirus-relief bill.
In this Nov. 23, 2020 file photo, a street sign is displayed at the American and United Air-
New York Stock Exchange in New York.
Associated Press lines, which together fur-
loughed 32,000 employees
U.S. stocks higher after in October, said Monday In this June 24, 2020 file photo, Southwest Airlines employee
they will bring those work-
Trump signs $900B aid ers back temporarily. Oscar Gonzalez, right, assists a passenger at the ticket counter
at Love Field in Dallas.
The $900 billion relief pack-
package age signed after some de- Associated Press
lay by President Donald case of Delta, negotiating we previously announced.”
Trump on Sunday night in- contract concessions from Kelly said Dallas-based
By ALEX VEIGA field said. The market cludes $15 billion for airlines pilots. This month, South- Southwest doesn’t expect
AP Business Writer tends to climb in the final to keep all their employ- west warned nearly 7,000 the need for any furloughs
Stocks began the final five days of trading in De- ees on the payroll through workers that their jobs or pay cuts in 2021. But, he
week of 2020 moderate- cember and the first two March 31. could be in danger if their added, the airline is “still
ly higher after President trading days in January, A previous round of $25 bil- unions did not accept pay overstaffed in many ar-
Donald Trump signed a a phenomenon known lion in payroll aid expired cuts of about 10%. eas,” and he appealed to
$900 billion economic as the “Santa Claus rally.” Sept. 30, leading to the fur- Southwest Chairman and employees to consider vol-
aid package that helps Since 1950, the S&P 500 loughs at American, United CEO Gary Kelly told em- untary time off.
reduce uncertainty amid index has risen an aver- and smaller carriers. ployees Monday that fed- A spokesman for United
the re-imposition of travel age of 1.3% during those Delta and Southwest avoid- eral relief “was always said Monday the airline
and business curbs in re- seven days. ed furloughs by convincing our preferred plan, and it was still working on details
sponse to a new corona- Companies that were hit thousands of workers to means we can stop the for temporarily bringing
virus variant. the hardest by the pan- take voluntary buyouts or movement toward fur- back 13,000 furloughed
The S&P 500 index was up demic — restaurants, early retirement and, in the loughs and pay cuts that workers through March. q
1% as of 2:50 p.m. Eastern. airlines and the cruise in-
Average rose 244 points, biggest gainers Monday. Holiday sales tick up as
The Dow Jones Industrial dustry — were among the

Nasdaq composite was 3.4%, Norwegian Cruise shoppers invest in their homes
or 0.8%, to 30,442 and the American Airlines was up
up 1%. The gains put the Lines rose 5.2% and Carni-
indexes on track to close val gained 4.9%. By ALEXANDRA OLSON The holiday shopping sea- ic, attracting shoppers who
at all-time highs. Shares in Chinese e-com- AP Business Writer son was considered longer wanted to avoid visiting
Trump signed the mea- merce giant Alibaba NEW YORK (AP) — Retail this year as retailers offered multiple stores.
sure, which also includes Group rose 0.3%, recov- sales increased a modest promotions sooner and en- But the pandemic has
money for other govern- ering some of their losses 3% during a longer holiday couraged customers to get been detrimental for small-
ment functions through after plunging last week season this year, as home- a jump-start to avoid deliv- er shops, clothing brands
September, despite ex- when government regu- bound shoppers spent ery delays. and department stores,
pressing frustration that lators launched an anti- more on furnishing and During the traditional holi- which had already been
$600 payments to the monopoly investigation food but less on clothing day period, between Nov. struggling to adapt to the
public weren’t bigger. His and the stock market and jewelry, according to 1 and Dec. 24, retail sales rise of online shopping. Al-
signature helped to clear debut of Ant Group, an figures released Saturday rose 2.4% year-over-year, ready, more than 40 U.S. re-
away uncertainty as rein- online finance platform by a firm that tracks all according to Mastercard’s tailers have filed for Chap-
stated travel and business in which Alibaba owns a forms of payments. data. ter 11 bankruptcy protec-
curbs threaten to weigh 33% stake, was suspend- The increase fell short of Steve Sadove, senior advi- tion since the pandemic
on global economic ac- ed. Treasury yields were predictions from the Na- sor for Mastercard and for- started forcing shutdowns
tivity. broadly higher, a sign of tional Retail Federation, the mer CEO and Chairman of in March.
“By and large, it’s a kind confidence in the econ- nation’s largest retail trade Saks Incorporated, said the Holiday department store
of broad-based opti- omy. The 10-year Treasury group, which had expect- surge in online spending sales fell 10.2% year-over-
mism, so-far-so-good on yield, which can affect ed sales to rise between and the early shopping was year, according to Master-
the vaccine rollout, and interest rates on mortgag- 3.6% and 5.2% this year “a testament to the holi- card. Spending on apparel
the stimulus bill to bridge es and other consumer compared to 2019. day season and strength plunged 19.1%, and jewelry
the gap,” said Ross May- loans, was at 0.94%. As expected, a surge in on- of retailers and consumers sales fell 2.3%.
field, investment strate- Trading is expected to be line shopping fueled much alike.” Shoppers instead invested
gist at Baird, “It’s really light this week, as most of spending. Online sales Buying trends benefited in their homes. Furniture and
just a continuation of the fund managers and in- rose a record 49% year- e-commerce giant Ama- furnishing sales increased
broader strength that vestors have closed their over-year between Oct. zon and big-box stores 16.2%, while spending on
we’ve seen over the last books for the year. It will 11 and Dec. 24, according like Target and Walmart, home improvement rose
couple of months.” be another holiday-short- to the Mastercard Spend- which already had robust 14.1%. Consumers also fa-
Stocks are getting a sea- ened week, with New ingPulse figures, which ex- e-commerce operations vored electronics and ap-
sonal tailwind, too, May- Year’s Day on Friday. q clude services, automotive and were allowed to stay pliances, a category where
and gasoline sales. open during the pandem- sales rose 6%.q