As troubled airlines have added fees and cut service to save money, it’s no surprise that their customers are less satisfied with them.

J.D. Power and Associates of Westlake Village found in an annual survey of airline customers that their satisfaction fell again, for the third year in a row. This is the lowest level for four years, the company said.

Though fliers said on-time arrivals improved and waits at airline counters shortened, nevertheless they were unhappy with new fees for checked bags, in-flight services, and the attention given by flight attendants.

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The European Central Bank is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged Thursday as it awaits to see whether last week's massive liquidity injection will get banks to lend more money to businesses and consumers and support the struggling economy.

As often, attention will center more on what the central bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, has to say at the ensuing press conference than on the rate decision itself.

Despite some worries that a corrosive spiral of falling prices may become entrenched in the 16 countries that use the euro currency, most analysts think Trichet will say that the current interest rate is "appropriate" -- indicating that it will not begin raising rates from their record low of 1 percent any time soon.

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Hong Kong stocks gained Tuesday, with Chinese banking stocks leading the advance following overnight gains on Wall Street. Refiners and related energy firms such as China Petroluem & Chemical Corp. ( Sinopec) (HK:386 5.99, +0.27, +4.72%)  (SNP 77.45, +4.66, +6.40%)  and Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883 9.74, +0.07, +0.72%)  (CEO 126.16, -0.09, -0.07%)  rose following a surprise hike in retail Chinese gasoline prices. The Hang Seng Index added 1.7% to 18,842.45, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 2.1% to 11,218.38.

Yes, that was Southwest Airlines Co. chairman and chief executive Gary Kelly outside the New York Stock Exchange early on the morning of June 18, handing out muffins and coffee.

That was before he went inside to ring the opening bell on the 38th anniversary of the Dallas-based airline's first flight.

And the Southwest Porch at Bryant Park, the new, temporary restaurant in the park next to the New York Public Library, does refer to Southwest Airlines, as does its special Southwest summer ale.

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Airline stocks were off to a soft start early Friday with a dip in the wider market. At last check, the NYSE Arca Airline Index (XAL 17.35, +0.07, +0.41%)  slipped a fraction to 17.22 points with all but three of its 13 components in the red. Shares of American parent company AMR Corp. (AMR 4.24, -0.01, -0.24%)  fell 1% to $4.23, Delta (DAL 5.74, +0.04, +0.70%)  ost 2% to $5.89 and United parent UAL Corp. (UAUA 3.50, +0.02, +0.58%)  slipped 2% to $3.50. Climbing were shares of US Airways (LCC 2.35, +0.04, +1.78%) , Gol (GOL 6.01, -0.05, -0.88%)  and Tam Sa (TAM 10.29, -0.77, -6.96%) . Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 8,438, -34.24, -0.40%)  fell 30 points to a about 8,443.

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has the second-highest rating from the Federal Reserve after a $45 billion bailout and an order to raise $34 billion more in capital, regulatory documents show.

The company has a “2” composite rating on a scale of 1 to 5, according to Fed documents labeled “restricted” that were released today by Congress. The company’s banking subsidiary, Bank of America NA, is also rated 2, according to the documents, dated May 29.

Bank of America’s need for government assistance could have prompted a lower grade, said Paula Johannsen, a former bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta who’s now a managing director at investment bank Carson Medlin Co. in Tampa, Florida. The ratings are typically kept secret to prevent a bank’s customers and investors from losing confidence.

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Despite improving credit markets, Australia's banks are in no hurry for the government's wholesale funding guarantee to be wound back anytime soon, and say an exit strategy can only be implemented on an internationally coordinated basis.

Since its introduction in October, domestic banks have been heavy users of the sovereign backstop, raising more than A$100 billion in local and offshore markets, behind only volumes raised by U.S. and U.K. banks.

The recent improvement in market sentiment has prompted a flurry of non-guaranteed issuance, but bank funding managers say this far from signals the guarantee has passed its shelf ...

Republic Airways Holdings has offered to buy Denver’s pride and joy, Frontier Airlines, and its short-haul subsidiary, Lynx, for $108.8 million in a plan to permit Frontier to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This follows a $40 million debtor-in-possession loan given to Frontier by Republic in March 2009. The offer, which Sean Menke, Frontier president/CEO praised, is subject to bankruptcy court and shareholder approval. The court hearing is set for July 13.Frontier and Republic have had a prior working relationship when Republic served as a contract operator with its Embraer 170/175 airplanes painted under the Frontier logo (animals included). When Frontier filed for bankruptcy, that left Republic holding the bag with 17 Embraer 170s. Fortunately, Bryan Bedford, Republic Chairman, president, and CEO, was able to place the orphaned airplanes with Midwest Airlines, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Mokulele Airlines, in Hawaii.

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The Pakistan Food Association (PFA) and Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote local food industry Monday. President PFA, Rafiq Rangoonwala said the objective of PFA was to provide one platform to all the stakeholders in the local food industry to experience and share problems. He said PFA was keen to disseminate information about the chain process in the food industry and to show that Pakistan food industry was well equipped with the state of the art world-class standards. staff report

Banks in North Carolina, Georgia and Kansas with combined assets of $1.5 billion were seized by regulators last week, costing the U.S. insurance fund $363 million and pushing this year’s tally of failures to 40.

Southern Community Bank of Fayetteville, Georgia, and 111- year-old Cooperative Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina, were closed June 19 by state officials, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shut First National Bank of Anthony, Kansas. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver.

Southern Community’s $307 million in deposits were bought by United Community Bank of Blairsville, Georgia, and most of Cooperative’s $774 million in deposits went to First Bank in Troy, North Carolina, the FDIC said. Bank of Kansas in South Hutchinson acquired First Bank’s $142.5 million in deposits. The acquiring banks are assuming a combined $1.47 billion in assets, mostly loans, and signed agreements with the FDIC to share more than 80 percent losses with the government.

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