Business & Finance

US Airways and its pilots' union reached agreement on a revised pension plan, one of the last hurdles to the carrier's bid to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of this month. Details were not immediately available. US Airways had said it could afford to contribute only $850 million to the pension fund over the next seven years, but estimated that keeping it solvent would cost $1.6 billion.

Citigroup Inc. chief executive Sanford Weill withdrew his nomination for a seat representing investor interests on the New York Stock Exchange board, after strong objections from New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer, whose office is nearing a settlement with Citigroup and other large Wall Street brokerages for allegedly providing biased stock research to investors, called the nomination "a violation of the public trust."

For the second time in less than a week, the No. 2 phone utility in Europe announced a move to reduce its huge debt burden. France Telecom said it will try to raise about $16 billion through a sale of new shares to the Paris government and to individual stockholders. The sale, which opened Monday, will last 2-1/2 weeks, with shares offered at almost a 30 percent discount. France Telecom owes creditors $69 billion. The company lost $21.8 billion last year and $8.8 billion in 2001. Last Friday, it sold its remaining stake in a joint venture in Italy for $1.4 billion.