Trade Group

If you plan to fly for the Thanksgiving holiday, you can practically give up on the idea of having an empty seat next to you. On the busiest travel days before and after Thanksgiving Day, the average flight is expected to be 90% full, according to Airlines for America, the trade group for the nation's largest airlines. In contrast, the average flight throughout 2011 was 82% full, according to federal statistics. The rate of filled seats on planes, known as the "load factor," has risen over the last few years as airlines have merged, cut less profitable routes and consolidated flights.

Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) has moved up his timetable to resign from the state Senate and intends to step down today instead of early next year, sources said Thursday. Staff members serving Campbell's office and his legislative committees were informed individually about the hastened departure Thursday. It was unclear what prompted Campbell to speed up his resignation. The senator and his chief assistant, Jerome Haleva, were unavailable for comment Thursday.

State Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights), an influential legislator for two decades, abruptly announced Thursday that he would resign his seat in January to become president of the California Manufacturers Assn., a major trade group with extensive lobbying operations in Sacramento.

The Los Angeles Times won Newspaper of the Year for 2011 among the state's largest daily newspapers and a total of 20 journalism awards as part of the annual Better Newspaper Contest, officials announced Saturday. The Times won first-place awards among newspapers with a circulation of 150,000 or more in the following categories: local government coverage, investigative reporting, sports, and arts and entertainment. The paper also received second prize for design and general excellence in the contest sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Assn., a nonprofit trade group.

A legislative proposal to increase the airline security tax is disappointing and shortsighted, an airline trade group said last week, claiming the higher fee could severely hurt the industry as it rebounds from the recession. The reaction from Airlines for America, the Washington trade group, came in response to a budget proposal by House Budget Committee ChairmanPaul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Among other budget ideas, he proposed changing the so-called Sept. 11 security fee from $2.50 for every segment of a trip to $5 for each way, regardless of the number of stops.

Business travel spending is expected to rise 5.1% in 2013, a sign of a stronger economy and high consumer confidence, according to a trade group for business travel managers. The Global Business Travel Assn.'s latest prediction is an increase from its last prediction of a 4.6% increase in business travel spending over 2012. Travel spending grew by only 1.8% in 2012 over the previous year. The 5.1% increase means business travelers in the U.S. will spend an estimated $268.5 billion in 2013, according to the trade group.

If you think air carriers have run out of ideas for new fees to charge passengers, think again. Among the fees airlines have announced in the past few weeks are a charge to zip through airport screening gates and board early, a fee to watch streaming movies and a fee to have your bags delivered in  36 cities around the country. It should be no surprise that airlines keep coming up with new fees: Combined, such charges generated an estimated $36 billion in 2012 for the world's largest airlines.

A trade group for the world's airlines is pushing to modernize a decades-old booking system to help speed along the latest airline trend - the sale of customized fare packages. Behind the effort is the International Air Transport Assn., the trade group for about 240 of the world's largest airlines. The group filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation last week to upgrade the computer system used by travel agents and online travel sites such as Orbitz and Travelocity.

Now that Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and other sugary soda producers are planning to list health information on vending machines, calorie counts aren't just for the likes of McDonald's and fast food joints. In full view of consumers, the machines will have a “Calories Count” display alongside messages such as “Check Then Choose” and “Try a Low-Calorie Beverage,” according to the American Beverage Assn. trade group. Labels listing the number of calories per container will be affixed to selection buttons.