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The U.S. economy shrank last quarter for the second time in a year as consumers and companies pulled back, reports this week may show.

Gross domestic product contracted at a 0.5 percent annual rate from July to September, the biggest drop since the 2001 recession, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Commerce Department figures due Oct. 30.

Consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, probably dropped by the most in almost two decades as job losses mounted, stock prices sank and property values plummeted. Federal Reserve policy makers, meeting this week, are forecast to lower interest rates for a second time this month to try to thaw frozen credit markets and prevent a deepening recession.

“I don't see how the consumer can do anything but retrench,'' Robert McTeer, former president of the Fed Bank of Dallas, said in an Oct. 24 Bloomberg Television interview. “If they all do it at the same time, it will really tank the economy.''

The projected economic contraction would follow a growth rate of 2.8 percent in the second quarter. The economy shrank at a 0.2 percent pace in the last three months of 2007.

Economists also forecast consumer spending dropped at a 2.4 percent pace last quarter, the first decline since 1991 and the biggest since 1990, according to the survey median.

Purchases fell 0.2 percent in the final month of the quarter after stalling in August, a Commerce report Oct. 31 is projected to show. Incomes likely grew 0.1 percent, a fifth of the gain in the prior month.

Growing Pessimism

Consumer sentiment probably plunged this month as stocks crashed, raising the risk the slump in spending will be even worse this quarter. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index, due on Oct internet payday loan. 28, probably fell to 52 from 59.8 in September, the survey median showed.

The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts the November-December holiday season, which brings in more than a third of some retailers' annual sales, will be the worst since 2002.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, is seeing consumers use credit cards less often because they are “feeling the pain'' of the financial crisis, said Eduardo Castro-Wright, the company's U.S. stores chief. Americans feel “maxed out,'' he said in a speech in Los Angeles on Oct. 21.

Household wealth is disappearing as foreclosures drive down home prices. Home values in 20 U.S. cities fell in August at the fastest pace on record, economists forecast figures from S&P/Case-Shiller on Oct. 28 will show.

Fewer Sales

Sales are still dropping as stricter lending rules and concern that property values will keep plunging scare off prospective buyers. A Commerce report tomorrow may show purchases of new homes fell in September to a 17-year low, according to the Bloomberg survey median.

The squeeze on credit and faltering overseas demand is hurting U.S. manufacturers. The Commerce Department may report on Oct. 29 that orders for durable goods, those meant to last several years, fell in September for the second consecutive month, according to the Bloomberg survey.

Policy makers will likely focus on the risks to growth when they meet on Oct. 28-29 as the economic slowdown has depressed oil prices and eased concern about inflation.

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About one of every three Valley residents are looking at buying a new car in the next year, and 10 percent of them may be looking at hybrids.

A WestGroup Research study found 33 percent of Valley residents might be inclined to buy cars during the next 12 months. About 14 percent said they’d be looking for new cars, with 19 percent looking for used vehicles.

Ten percent of the potential buyers said they would consider hybrids, while 6 percent stated interest in their alternative-fuel brethren, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which are not on the market yet free credit report .com. Only 4 percent said they would consider buying sport-utility vehicles.

The WestGroup study was conducted of a sample of 429 adults. It has a margin of error of 5 percent.

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With less than two weeks to go before the presidential election, Democratic nominee Barack Obama has a solid 13-point lead over Republican opponent John McCain in Pennsylvania, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

The poll found Obama ahead 53 percent to 40 percent in the Keystone State, compared with 54 percent to 39 percent in Quinnipiac's last poll Oct. 1

The economy is the most important issue for Pennsylvania voters, who trust Obama 54 percent to 36 percent to handle the issue, compared with 55 percent to 36 percent in the previous poll.

“Sen. Obama leads comfortably in Pennsylvania, mostly because he has pulled ahead in the four key suburban counties surrounding Philadelphia where Keystone State races are decided,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“Obama is leading among whites and blue collar workers, but white men and 15 percent of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s primary supporters are clinging to Sen. McCain, probably not enough to change the tide in the closing days of the campaign,” Richards added.

Obama also polled higher than McCain in key battleground states Florida and Ohio, the Quinnipiac poll found low fee cash advance. The Illinois senator is up 49 percent to 44 percent over his Republican counterpart in Florida, and leads McCain by an even wider margin — 52 percent to 38 percent —in Ohio.

According to Hamden, Conn.-based Quinnipiac, no one has been elected President since 1960 without taking two of these three states in the Electoral College.

Pennsylvania voters give higher approval ratings for the Democratic nominee for vice president, Joe Biden. Fifty-four percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Scranton native Biden, with 22 percent having an unfavorable opinion of him. Only 38 percent of likely Pennsylvania voters had an favorable opinion of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin; 43 percent had an unfavorable opinion of her, according to the poll.

One area where McCain scored higher than Obama in the Quinnipiac poll was the issue of foreign policy. Asked whom they trust more to handle foreign policy regardless of whom they supported for president, 47 percent said McCain, and 45 percent said Obama.

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European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet urged banks to start lending again after policy makers put them on to the “the path'' of recovery by pumping record amounts of cash into money markets.

“I expect the banks to normalize their relationships, meaning that they start lending to each other and that they lend to their clients,'' Trichet said in an interview on French radio RTL late yesterday. The banking system is “on the path to normalization,'' he said.

The cost of borrowing dollars in London fell last week for the first week since July after the ECB offered lenders as many euros as they wanted and joined counterparts in promising unlimited dollars as well. Central bankers and governments have stepped up efforts to end the 14-month-old credit crunch that's threatening to tip the global economy into recession.

“We're facing a very important market correction which is lasting,'' Trichet said, declining to say the credit crunch is over. “We are facing a very serious systemic liquidity crisis.''

As well as offering unlimited amounts of dollars and euros to banks, the ECB this month cut interest rates for the first time since 2003 and loosened rules on the collateral it will accept from banks when making loans. European governments including those in France, Germany and Spain committed 1.3 trillion euros ($1.7 trillion) to guarantee bank loans and take stakes in lenders.

Still, in a sign the crisis continues to reverberate, the Netherlands yesterday put 10 billion euros into ING Groep NV after the biggest Dutch financial-services company said it expects its first quarterly loss.

Lehman Collapse

Trichet said policy makers are acting to give banks the ability to refinance and boost their capital after September's collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. prompted lenders to hoard cash. That sent the cost of credit surging, hurting the economy by choking off money to consumers and companies.

ECB council member George Provopoulos said the central bank “remains vigilant and will do what is needed'' to both reduce inflation and ensure stability in markets, according to an interview with To Vima newspaper published yesterday. Colleague Ewald Nowotny told Austrian state broadcaster ORF-TV that, while the crisis should be “under control'' by the middle of next year, the economy will suffer for longer.

Trichet criticized investors for creating the crisis by behaving with too much “short-termism,'' which he blamed for amplifying the rise and the decline of markets. He said that having mis-priced risk, financial markets should now be subjected to greater transparency and regulation to curb their volatility electronic check payday advance.

Review Financial System

“We said there was an underestimation of the risks and of the price to be paid for these risks,'' he said. The crisis “must force us to review the entire international financial system.''

ECB council member Erkki Liikanen told Finnish state broadcaster YLE TV1 yesterday that regulation will be strengthened across borders. “All national regulators of banks operating across borders must join forces,'' he said. “It will be a part of EU legislation and I'm sure it will even be agreed on a multinational level beyond that.''

While the ECB this month cut its benchmark rate by a half- point to 3.75 percent, with inflation still almost double its 2 percent limit, Trichet said its focus is “entirely oriented to ensure price stability.''

“We will always, at any moment, do what is necessary so that I can continue to say to our citizens `you can have confidence, you will have medium-term price stability','' Trichet said. Such a goal should lend confidence to financial markets as “there's now more than in the past the recognition of the fact that price stability'' helps expansion and hiring, he said.

`Important Slowdown'

The ECB president described his 15-nation euro-area economy as being in a “very, very important growth slowdown,'' driven by tighter credit and also by this year's record fuel and food costs. Nowotny predicted the growth rate next year “will be significantly below what we have in 2008.''

Such an outlook explains why investors expect the ECB to cut its benchmark rate to 3.25 percent by the end of the year, Eonia forward contracts show.

The ECB, which next releases economic forecasts in December, in September predicted growth of 1.4 percent this year and 1.2 percent in 2009. With the crisis worsening, the International Monetary Fund this month said it expects the euro-area to grow 0.2 percent next year, the weakest since the single currency began trading in 1999, after 1.3 percent in 2008.

Trichet acknowledged his own central bank had taken on risk by boosting liquidity and accepting lower-rated securities for loans.

“We're taking risks and we've made decisions that increased our risks, because we were facing a systemic liquidity crisis of first importance,'' he said. The ECB is an “inspirer of confidence,'' Trichet said.

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Belgium and Luxembourg raced to find a buyer for troubled financial group Fortis (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) before markets opened on Monday and an industry source said BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was negotiating for control.

In a second weekend of crisis talks, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme told broadcasters on Sunday he hoped to keep the Belgian and Luxembourg operations of the group together after the Dutch nationalized most of Fortis’s Dutch units on Friday.

“There are contacts with private groups, several private groups. We are not going to decide in this situation with our backs to the wall,” he said. “The only thing certain is that we are going to send a clear and strong signal to the markets before they open tomorrow.

An industry source close to the situation confirmed reports in several Belgian media that BNP Paribas was negotiating to take up to 80 percent of Fortis banks in both countries, but said nothing had been agreed yet (fast cash).

Belgium and Luxembourg, which took 49 percent stakes in the Fortis banks in their countries last Sunday, would keep a 20 percent stake in each. BNP declined comment.

Luxembourg Budget Minister Luc Frieden told RTL television the governments were close to a solution for Fortis involving one of the Europe’s most solid banks.

“We are very close to an agreement for a clever combination of a strong state, taking responsibility in the bank, and one of the biggest international banking groups,” Frieden said.

He declined to name the group but said it would involve a public-private partnership in which the state would keep a veto right over strategic decisions. 

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The U.S. housing slump probably showed no sign of ending and the trade deficit shrank in August, a month before the turmoil in financial markets came to a head, economists said before reports this week.

The number of Americans signing contracts to purchase previously owned homes probably fell 1.1 percent in August, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Oct. 8 figures from the National Association of Realtors. The drop in oil prices caused imports to fall, narrowing the trade gap, a report two days later may show.

Job losses swelled last month, stock markets tumbled as commercial and investment banks collapsed, and money-market rates jumped to records as the credit crisis intensified. Passage of the government's $700 billion rescue plan failed to ease concern the economy will falter, signaling the Federal Reserve may need to lower interest rates.

“The economy was on the way down even before the latest tightening in the credit crunch,'' said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. “The economy's tailspin and the tightening of the credit noose argue strongly for interest-rate cuts'' by the Fed.

Pending home sales may have declined in August for a second month, the first back-to-back drop since March. A slowdown in demand will add to the glut of unsold houses, pushing property values down even more.

Home Prices

A private report last week showed home prices in 20 U.S. cities declined at the fastest pace on record in the year ended July. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 16.3 percent from July 2007.

Declining home prices threaten to throw more properties into foreclosure, prompting banks to keep reining in credit.

KB Home, the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, last month reported wider than forecast third-quarter losses after sales plummeted 56 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.

“Market fundamentals appear unlikely to improve significantly in the near term, as foreclosures continue to rise, housing inventory overhang remains at historically high levels and mortgages have become more difficult to obtain,'' Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger said in a statement Sept (instant payday loans). 26.

Congress last week passed the administration's rescue package that lets the government buy troubled assets from financial institutions damaged by the subprime crisis. President George W. Bush signed the measure into law Oct. 3.

Payrolls Drop

Employers cut 159,000 workers from payrolls in September, the most since 2003, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at a five-year high of 6.1 percent, the Labor Department said last week.

Odds the central bank will lower its benchmark rate, currently at 2 percent, by at least a half percentage point between now and its next meeting on Oct. 29 rose to 100 percent on Oct. 3 compared with no chance a month earlier.

The trade gap probably shrank 5.1 percent to $59 billion from $62.2 billion in July, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Commerce Department figures on Oct. 10.

The cost of a barrel of crude oil averaged $119.77 in August, down from $132.04 in July. Prices have retreated further since then, dropping below $92 a barrel last week.

Exports, Growth

While the decline in the trade gap reflects forecasts for a drop in oil imports, economists will also be looking for evidence that American exports are starting to suffer as economies in the euro zone and Japan falter.

A stronger dollar is also making U.S. products less competitive. The dollar has gained nearly 7 percent since Aug. 1 against a trade-weighted basket of currencies of major trading partners.

Import prices are projected to drop 2.8 percent in September after a 3.7 percent drop the prior month, a Labor Department report Oct. 10 may show according to the Bloomberg survey.

Sourse

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and congressional Democrats hammered out a consensus on spending up to $700 billion to rescue the financial industry. There isn't consensus on whether it would work.

Lawmakers reached agreement yesterday as House Republican leaders backed away from opposition to the proposal after it included plans to create insurance for mortgage-backed securities. The House and Senate are scheduled to vote on the bill early this week, although it wasn't clear last night that it has sufficient votes to pass the House.

Giving Treasury authority to buy so many distressed securities from lenders is without precedent, and it's unclear how the government will pay prices that strike a balance between protecting taxpayers and preventing more bank failures.

“This has a reasonable chance of pulling back from the brink and having some success, but it's far from certain that will be the case,'' said former Fed Governor Laurence Meyer, now vice chairman of consultant Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in Washington.

“The markets are going to love it because it's a massive subsidy of shareholders and unsecured creditors,'' said Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics and economics professor at New York University. “But you're not resolving the two fundamental issues: You still have to recapitalize the banking system, and household debt is going to stay high.''

U.S. stock futures fell on concern that plan won't avert more failures, with the S&P 500 future for December delivery down 2.1 percent to 1189.30 at 10:35 a.m. in Paris. The dollar gained 1.9 percent against the euro to $1.4342 and treasuries also gained.

Immediate Cash

The bill gives Paulson $250 billion at the start to buy assets, increasing the amount to $350 billion upon “written certification'' from the president that the secretary is “exercising the authority'' to buy assets. The Treasury chief, or whoever succeeds him, may use the remaining $350 billion if Congress fails to reject a request for it within 15 days.

The proposed law lets Paulson buy assets “at the lowest price that the Secretary determines to be consistent with the purposes of this Act.'' The bill doesn't require any specific method for the purchases beyond saying mechanisms such as auctions or reverse auctions should be used “when appropriate.'' Treasury officials declined to discuss how the plan will be implemented.

Democratic and Republican leaders trust that Paulson can avert a collapse after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy and the government was forced to take over American International Group Inc. Success hinges on whether he can help banks raise capital after $556 billion in writedowns and losses, and get credit flowing through the economy.

`Far Worse Pain'

“We have clearly seen a run of failures of financial institutions not like anything we've seen since the Great Depression,'' House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, told reporters yesterday. “If we didn't do this, there would be far worse pain in the sense of the lending freezing up.''

“It's a fragile situation,'' Paulson said in an interview on CBS television's “60 Minutes'' program broadcast yesterday. “It's gotta do it, and we're going to make this work.''

The draft legislation was posted on the House Financial Services Committee's Web site yesterday. It includes a provision to give taxpayers equity stakes in the companies that benefit from the plan.

The bill has a section aimed at limiting the pay of executives at companies that take advantage of assistance by prohibiting tax deductions for officials that exceed $500,000, which is half the normal deductible limit payday loans. It also allows “clawbacks'' of money already paid to executives at troubled companies and forbids so-called golden parachutes.

Community Banks

The legislation takes steps to let some 800 community banks that held preferred stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the mortgage giants were taken over by the federal government on Sept. 7, make better use of losses for tax purposes than they would otherwise be allowed.

House Republicans offered early resistance to the Paulson plan. They complained that it put the country on the road to socialism and instead argued that elimination of the capital gains tax would spur a wave of investment that would render the bailout plan unnecessary.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio commissioned Virginia Representative Eric Cantor to draft a rival plan without telling Democrats or Paulson. The plan, which depended on self- funded insurance premiums, was abandoned after Democrats lashed out at Republicans at a White House meeting Sept. 25.

Limited Insurance

Ultimately, Republicans got none of the tax breaks they sought, though the bill includes a limited self-funded insurance program for companies that benefit from the bailout. Last night Boehner, the top House Republican, urged his colleagues to support the bailout plan.

Some House Republicans, such as Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, are still holding out. “We now have a deal that promises to bring near-term stability to our financial turmoil, but at what price?'' Pence said in a letter to colleagues.

Pence called the plan “the largest corporate bailout in American history'' and that it would “nationalize almost every bad mortgage in America.''

Paulson, the 62-year-old former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chairman, said such a strategy is necessary to stabilize financial markets. “We will have turbulence and turmoil in our financial system for some time, but I believe that this is going to work,'' he said on “60 Minutes.''

`Some Doubts'

Yet as members of Congress and their staffs worked late nights over the past week negotiating and writing compromise legislation, money markets failed to improve. “It just raised some doubts in my mind whether this was going to be sufficient,'' said Meyer, who was on the Fed board when the Asian financial crisis struck in 1997.

Should the plan fail, “there may have to be a more substantial participation by the federal government to buy mortgages,'' Frank said last night. Any alternative proposal would involve “significant purchases directly of the foreclosed mortgages.''

Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who will be on a five-member oversight board for the program, have signaled that their priority is shoring up the nation's banks even if it means they don't get taxpayers the cheapest prices for the devalued assets the government buys.

The proposal also sets the stage for an overhaul of financial regulation next year, something Frank is already planning. The draft bill requires the Treasury secretary to report to Congress and make recommendations by April 30 on whether to regulate additional participants in the financial markets.

“It'll give us some temporary respite from the earlier pressures,'' said Joseph Mason, a Louisiana State University finance professor who formerly worked in the bank-research division of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “If we don't use that respite to design more permanent policy, we will find ourselves back in the same place.''

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Reynolds American Inc. and its subsidiary R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said Tuesday they were cutting about 10% of their American work force as the company restructures its portfolio.

The nation’s second-largest tobacco company said it plans to lay off about 570 workers in Winston-Salem, N.C, where the two companies are based, or about 16% of the work force there.

The cuts are expected to begin in the third quarter and last through the end of 2009.

The company said it expects to record a $90 million pretax restructuring charge in the third quarter of 2008 because of the efforts.

Meanwhile, Reynolds said it was realigning its brands as it tries to "simplify programs and processes, reduce complexity and improve productivity" throughout the company while focusing on innovation and "maximizing trademark equity."

Among the changes: The company is scaling back marketing and promotional support for its Kool menthol brand cigarettes, while boosting the amount of money it spends on Camel brand menthol products.

"The company believes that Camel’s strength provides significant opportunities in the expanding premium-priced menthol category, in which the brand currently has a small but growing position," Reynolds said in a statement.

The Pall Mall label will also remain one of the company’s growth brands.

"Continued success demands that we fully align our plans, programs and people behind the things that matter most to our future performance," Daniel M payday loan online. Delen, chairman, president and chief executive officer of R.J. Reynolds, said in a statement. "The steps we are taking support R.J. Reynolds’ ongoing evolution to a ‘total tobacco’ business model that includes both cigarettes and innovative smokeless tobacco products."

Reynolds (RAI, Fortune 500) shares were unchanged at $51.57 in premarket trading Tuesday. 

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The attorney general of New York is negotiating settlements with eight student loan companies to reform deceptive practices in the industry. A particular focus is the marketing of products so they appear to be federal loans, an official said Friday.

"Some of the seals [used by lenders] looked very similar to those of the federal government," said Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

The distinction is important because federal loans have fixed interest rates that are often lower than private loans.

The student loan companies also misled consumers at times about the best loan options on the market, he said.

This group of direct-to-student lenders sends advertising material by mail or market to students online, but does not necessarily have a presence on campus. Students are sometimes offered iPods or gift cards as an incentive to sign up, Detrick said.

The attorney general’s office is also preparing to sue student lender Goal Financial LLC for deceptive practices, Detrick said. Unlike the lenders currently negotiating settlements, Detrick said Goal Financial did not signal a willingness to reform its practices. He did not know how many, if any, of the companies would reach a settlement.

Calls to Goal Financial’s headquarters in San Diego went to voicemail Friday and were not immediately returned. The company’s attorney, Lewis Rose of Kelley Drye & Warren, did not return requests for comment.

Goal Financial was the sixth largest lender of consolidated student loans in the country in 2006, according to Student Marketmeasure, which tracks the student loan industry. Goal Financial made 111,426 loans worth $2.5 billion that year, according to the group.

The attorney general’s office sent a letter to Goal Financial in July notifying the company of its intent to sue.

The letter said Goal Financial enlisted students to promote loans on campus and offered incentives for students who secured applicants.

The letter also said Goal Financial’s advertising materials gave misleading examples of monthly payment amounts and annual savings.

In addition, the company referred students to a comparison Web site, www.eStudentLoan.com, which is operated by a Goal subsidiary, according to the letter payday loan low fee. The site does not disclose that it only lists lenders that pay Goal Financial a fee, Detrick said.

Last year, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office helped bring about reforms in the student lending industry when he investigated deals that gave colleges "kickbacks" in exchange for being listed as a preferred lender.

At least 22 schools agreed to adopt codes of conduct with regard to their financial relationships with lenders as a result of the investigation. Several of the lenders targeted in that investigation, including Sallie Mae (SLM, Fortune 500), formally SLM Corp., and Citibank, a unit of Citigroup Inc. (C, Fortune 500), agreed to reforms and to pay a combined $6.5 million into a national fund to educate families and students about loans.

The attorney general’s office is now investigating other possible conflicts of interest on college campuses - including deals with credit card, textbook and catering companies, Detrick said. 

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A study from research group FlightStats found that JetBlue Airways was one of the most-delayed airlines in August, while Northwest Airlines had one of the best track records for being on time.

JetBlue (JBLU) flights arrived on-time 64.7% of the time in August, FlightStats said on Wednesday. This was the worst percentage among the leading airlines.

Only one carrier had a worse record: Freedom Airlines, a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group (MESA), with an on-time arrival rate of 58.1%

Northwest Airlines (NWA, Fortune 500) was the top-performer among the leading carriers, with an on-time arrival record of 85.3% in August, FlightStats said. Four regional carriers had a better rate, with Hawaiian Airlines taking the lead with an on-time arrival record of 91%.

The industry average for being on-time was 77.3%, according to FlightStats.

Among airports in North America, FlightStats found that Salt Lake City International was the most efficient, with an on-time arrival rate of 87.3% in August. Detroit Metro was second-best, with a success rate of 86.4%

Three of the bottom four airports in terms of on-time arrivals were in the New York City area, according to the research group.

John F. Kennedy International came in dead last, with an on-time arrival rate of 55.2% payday advance. Newark Liberty International, with an on-time rate of 64.2%, and LaGuardia Airport, at 64.5%, were the third and fourth worst airports for timely arrivals. Miami International was the second worst, with 64% of flights arriving on time in August.

The on-time average for North American airports was 76.5%.

The Department of Transportation released similar findings on Wednesday for the month of July, pointing to the New York-area airports and JetBlue as having some of the worst rates for on-time flights.

New York City is a major hub for JetBlue, which is preparing to open a new terminal at JFK. When asked about the DOT report, JetBlue spokesman said the reliance on New York was part of the airline’s problem in terms of delays, but said that JetBlue has made improvements.

Pasquale DiFulco, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said his agency had made numerous requests to the Federal Aviation Authority and the DOT to alleviate the severely congested New York-area airports by adding capacity. 

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