United Airlines seeks new package

CHICAGO - United Airlines is in advanced negotiations for a new bankruptcy financing package that would extend its funding in Chapter 11 bankruptcy through next summer, doubling the amount of cash available, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The negotiations also involve a new lender - General Electric Co.'s GE Commercial Finance - that would join United's financiers if talks are successful, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and CIT Group Inc. also are involved in the negotiations about expanded financing, the sources said. United has been talking with the financial community about providing $2 billion-plus to enable it to pay off its bankruptcy loans and emerge from Chapter 11, which it entered in December 2002 after 21/2 years of heavy losses.

Northwest expands in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS - Northwest Airlines will more than double the number of its departures from Indianapolis International Airport to 36 flights per day beginning Oct. 31, the company said Tuesday. The announcement came a day after Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines said it would add six flights to its current 30 per day beginning Oct. 1.

Northwest will begin new nonstop service to Boston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; Hartford, Conn.; Washington; Orlando and Fort Myers, Fla.; and Raleigh/Durham, N.C.

New chairman, CEO at MTV Networks

NEW YORK - Judy McGrath has been named chairman and CEO of MTV Networks, replacing Tom Freston, who was elevated last month to the post of co-president and co-chief operating officer of parent company Viacom Inc.

McGrath, who had been responsible for the flagship MTV channel and several other channels including MTV2 and VH1, will oversee the MTV Networks group, which also includes Nickelodeon, Spike TV and the overseas operations of MTV.

Schwab founder becomes new CEO

SAN FRANCISCO - Discount broker Charles Schwab Corp. dumped its CEO Tuesday and replaced him with founder and chairman Charles Schwab, hoping the man who created the company can rejuvenate the sputtering business.

The San Francisco-based company made the surprise announcement as it released its second-quarter results - a 10 percent drop in profits for the three months ending in June, reversing a streak of improved earnings.

Home construction declines in June

WASHINGTON - Home builders took a breather in June, sending housing construction down to its lowest level in just over a year.

The number of housing projects launched by builders clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.80 million units, an 8.5 percent drop from May's level, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Although the 1.80 million pace was the lowest since May 2003 and was weaker than economists expected, it still was a respectable level of activity, analysts said.