Business Briefs

AirTran fare sale

ATLANTA — In a sign of great uncertainty about demand for air travel this year amid the deep U.S. recession, discount carrier AirTran Airways launched a fare sale to all its destinations Tuesday for flights through the middle of the fall.

American Airlines and Continental Airlines quickly matched on routes where they compete with AirTran, and JetBlue said it would do the same.

AirTran's sale extends through the summer, normally a busy time for airlines when they have been able to reap premiums. But fewer people are taking vacations, and businesses are cutting back on corporate travel.

Warning on dividends

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is letting banks know they need to be careful when they decide to pay dividends to shareholders.

The central bank, which regulates the nation's large bank holding companies, said in a guidance letter on Tuesday that banks need to consult with the Fed if they plan to pay any dividends that could raise "safety and soundness concerns."

The Fed's Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation said the new guidance was intended for all banks it regulates but was particularly aimed at banks "experiencing financial difficulties and/or receiving public funds."

Google on the attack

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. is joining forces with European regulators in an attack on Microsoft Corp.'s dominance of the Web browser market, injecting more bad blood between two of computing's richest and most powerful companies.

The latest assault on Microsoft's Internet Explorer, announced Tuesday, comes as Google is trying to expand the usage of its own Web browsercalled Chrome.

A complaint by another Internet Explorer rival, Opera, prompted the European Commission to open an investigation into whether Microsoft's bundling of its Web browser with the Windows operating system had stifled competition.

Idaho law upheld

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law banning local governments from letting workers use payroll deductions to fund their union's political activities, a decision that could strike at organized labor's ability to raise funds at local levels.

Five labor unions and the Idaho state AFL-CIO successfully argued in lower federal courts that a 2003 Idaho law forcing cities, counties and school districts to eliminate a payroll deduction funding union political-action committees violated the First Amendment.

"Idaho's law does not restrict political speech, but rather declines to promote that speech by allowing public employee checkoff for political activities," Chief Justice John Roberts said as the court voted 6-3 to overturn those rulings.