Succumbing under the economic crunch, FairPoint Communications, a rural telecom services provider, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U. S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, post which the company plans to cut its debt by $1.7 Billion. Ownership will be transferred completely to lenders.

In its recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bank of America Corp. said that three more of its board directors - John T. Collins, William Barnet III and Gary L. Countryman - have resigned. The bank said that while Collins' resignation was effective July 29, Barnet and Countryman decided to call it quits on July 31.

US Airways has announced a new route for nonstop flights from its largest hub in Charlotte to Honolulu, Hawaii. This service would continue throughout the year, for which Boeing 767 with capacity of 204 passengers would be used by the company.

Charlotte is the focal point of US Airways from where it operates more than 85 % of the airport's 655 daily flights.

In a regulatory filing, Bank of America Corp said that the total number of top-rung members to have quit the company since April has risen to seven - with retired Admiral Joseph Prueher and retired General Tommy R. Franks resigning as directors on Wednesday, June 17.

According to the Wall Street Journal Wednesday reports, federal officials - notably US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke - "forcefully urged" Bank of America (BofA) to complete its Merrill Lynch takeover, despite the fact that credit losses at the struggling investment bank were substantial.

An instant hero, the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 kept his cool despite crippled engines, as he began to descend over New York City . Guiding the plane to crash in the frozen Hudson River, passengers received instructions to brace for the impact, which many survivors say felt more like a rear-end car collision.

As a result of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. and a faltering economy "affecting the level of business activity", Bank of America Corp. (BofA) plans the largest layoffs ever - the bank will eliminate 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years.

Bank of America Corporation, one of the world's largest financial institutions, has finally got permission from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System of the company's purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co