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Saturday, March 1, 2014

Pilots: Too few or low pay?

A government agency says the problem is low pay.
BY JOAN LOWY
Associated Press

FYI: BUSINESS
Stock market ends month on hot streak
After two months of trading, the stock market is back where it started. The Standard & Poors 500 index rose 4.3 percent in February, the biggest gain since October 2013, helped by strong corporate earnings and a Federal Reserve that seems to have Wall Streets back at every turn. On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 5.16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,859.45. It was the second all-time closing high for the S&P 500 in a row. The S&P 500 is now up 0.6 percent for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.06 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,321.76. The Nasdaq composite lost 10.81 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,308.12.

Oklahoma active rig count

Feb. 28, 2014
200 150 100
3rd Q 4th Q 1st Q 2nd Q

WASHINGTON The nations regional airlines are having trouble hiring enough pilots, the government says, suggesting one reason may be that they simply dont pay enough. A pool of qualied pilots is available, but its unclear whether they are willing to work for low entry-level wages, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Friday. One key economic indicator supports the emergence of a shortage, something regional airlines have complained of and point to as a reason for limiting service to some small communities. But two other indicators suggest the opposite is true, GAO said. Also, two studies reviewed by the GAO point to the large number of qualied pilots that exist, but may be working abroad, in the military or in another occupa-

The U.S. airline industry will need to hire 1,900 to 4,500 new pilots annually over the next 10 years because of an expected surge in retirements of pilots reaching age 65 and increased demand for air travel, the Government Accountability Office said in a report obtained Thursday.VINCENT YU/AP le

tion, as evidence that there is adequate supply. The U.S. airline industry will need to hire 1,900 to 4,500 new pilots annually over the next 10 years due to an expected surge in retirements of pilots reaching age 65 and increased demand for

air travel, the report said. Eleven out of 12 regional airlines failed to meet their hiring targets for entry-level pilots last year, the report said. However, no major airlines were experiencing problems nding pilots. Regional carriers account

for about half of all domestic airline ights. One big concern is that communities served only by regional airlines will see their service reduce or eliminated. Five regional airlines told GAO they are already limiting service because of a pilot shortage. Major airlines generally pay signicantly higher salaries than regional carriers and often hire pilots from regionals. The average starting salary for rst officers, also called copilots, at regional airlines is $22,400, according to the Air Line Pilots Association. Earlier this month, Wyoming-based Great Lakes Airlines ended service in a handful of small towns, citing a dearth of qualied pilots. The pilots association says Great Lakes pays newly hired rst officers $16,500 a year. Data indicate that a large pool of qualied pilots exists relative to the projected demand, but whether such pilots are willing or available to work at wages being offered is unknown, the report said. And, the size of the pilot pool has remained steady since 2000, the report said.

181 0

2013

2014

Source: Bloomberg Services

Tulsa World

State rig count steady at 180

The number of drilling rigs actively exploring for oil or natural gas in Oklahoma did not change this week, remaining at 181, Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday. The tally is down six from a year ago, when it was 187. Nationwide, the net number of active drilling rigs dipped by two this week to 1,769, said Houston-based Baker Hughes. The total is up 12 rigs from a year ago. Of the rigs operating this week across the U.S., 1,430 were exploring for oil, 335 for gas, and four were listed as miscellaneous. Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark U.S. crude for April delivery rose 19 cents to $102.59 a barrel. Oil gained $5.10 a barrel a February. Natural gas ended a wild month by gaining 10 cents Friday to nish at $4.61 per 1,000 cubic feet. For February, natural gas futures lost 33 cents, or nearly 7 percent.

Corp. said late Friday it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Topeka, Kan.-based GTRUST Financial Corp. by its bank subsidiary, BOKF NA. The transaction adds $600 million in assets to BOK Financials wealth management platform, extends its suite of products and services, and expands its offerings and client base in the Kansas market, ofcials said in a press release. BOK Financial is a $27 billion regional nancial services company. GTRUST was founded in 1991 as an employee-owned and -operated organization specializing in trust and asset management services.

Chesapeake Energy sells $500 million in assets

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas producer, said Friday it is selling some of its midstream compresssion assets for more than $500 million. The sale of compression units belonging to subsidiary MidCon Compression LLC follows last years sale of its midstream holdings. Chesapeake also is looking to sell or spinoff its oil-eld service company. Chesapeake has agreed to sell 103 compression units serving gathering systems in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to Access Midstream Partners LP for $160 million. Houston-based Exterran Partners LP is buying 334 units serving gathering systems in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Wyoming from MidCon for about $360 million. FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

RESORT
FROM E1

Oberle. Oberle said the development group expects to sign contracts with interior designer Hutton Wilkinson and the Gensler architectural rm for the building design. The Bury engineering and consulting rm from Austin, Texas, will do land planning. Oberle said the project is not really comparable to any other resort, as it will be designed to incorporate Oklahoma history and landforms. Bernie Carballo, who maintains residences in both Oklahoma City and Florida, is a former executive vice president of Seagate and now owner of Carballo Ventures. He funded the construction of Emerald Falls and has invested millions in the golf course from its inception in 2007, mostly without return as the course has not yet operated in the black in any calendar year. A group of private investors, however, is helping to fund the resort development, which Oberle said will attract guests primarily from a ve-hour drive radius, as well as serve Oklahoma businesses and individuals. Plans are for the upgraded golf course to offer memberships, resort play and still remain open to the public at least several days a week. The project marks the second time a golf course has been extensively redone in the location. Emerald Falls was built on the site of a for-

A rendering shows the proposed resort next to Emerald Falls Golf Course.Courtesy

mer 36-hole facility called Deer Run, constructed and owned by Wayne Coppage. The course was redesigned by Jerry Slack with a reopening in 2007 to serve as the centerpiece of a planned real estate development. Due to a combination of factors including the downturn in the U.S. economy, housing at Emerald Falls never took off. There was room for 850 lots and estimates were for hundreds of lots to be sold and houses constructed by 2014, but only 20 are built and occupied now, Oberle said. The course, however, has grown slowly but steadily in popularity, from 13,500 rounds played in its rst full season to approximately 20,000 in 2013. We realized if we were ever going to see a return we were going to have to do something drastic something original and creative, Oberle said. Weve had the with the merger, said Tulsa International Airport Direction Jeff Mulder. Tulsa makes sense for that. Tulsa travelers will be pleased. It provides another market with good connections to the East Coast. Charlotte is a hub for US Airways, providing connections to the Eastern Seaboard and also functioning as the center of the carriers international operations to Europe, Central American and South America. Currently, American Airlines has direct ights from Tulsa to only Dallas and Chicago, using other routes to connect to the rest of the country. Charlotte doesnt rank high on the list of nal destinations for travelers originating in Tulsa only an average of 14 to 17 passengers a day in 2012, according to Tulsa Airports Authority data. But through Charlotte, US Airways and American AirEnough about curved lines. As a device, the Flex works well enough. The general speed and performance puts it in the upper end of Android phones, if not quite top-of-the-line. I just wish it werent running the 4.2.2 avor of Jelly Bean, which is nearly a year and a half old. Screens are generally the biggest selling point of phablets, and the Flex doesnt disappoint. Everything I tried looked sharp and vivid. Usually the manufacturer-

top industry consultants involved, and there was a consensus to build a truly unique resort on a ve-star level. Oberle is the owner of Progeny, a golf course construction company that did most of the building of Emerald Falls. He has maintained a friendship and business relationship with Carballo since, and in February married Carballos daughter Lucia Carballo. She is now the majority owner of the original Emerald Falls development, while Oberle and Bernie Carballo have formed a partnership called Emerald Falls Development Corp. to spearhead the resort. In addition to the as-yetunnamed resort, Oberle said there are plans for an upscale senior living center and a shopping village. Plenty of room for additional housing remains, though developing residential real estate will not be an initial priority, Oberle said. lines have connections on 645 daily ights to 140 destinations, including ights to 20 countries. Tulsa has direct connections to Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Newark, but not through American Airlines. The Canadair CRJ-700 that PSA Airlines will be ying between Tulsa and Charlotte holds 67 passengers 58 in economy class and nine in rst class. From Oklahoma City to Charlotte, the company will y the slightly larger CRJ900, which carries 76 to 79 passengers. Travelers can start booking ights for the new Charlotte route March 8 through either American or US Airways. The new ights come as American Airlines and US Airways work to integrate their companies following their December merger. The merged carrier overlaps on a handful of directight routes around the counspecic tweaks to Android phones do little but delay upgrades and the delay is denitely in force here but the Flexs ability to display two apps at once is a welcome addition given the huge screen size. Hold your nger on the back button for a couple seconds and youll get the option to ing different apps on the top and bottom. That way you can surf the Web while watching a video, or drag and drop les. You can even slide the divider bar up

To counter rumors about the project, Oberle emphasized that it will not have a casino. A new clubhouse is planned, and there will also be an extensive indoor teaching facility and a golf school. The current clubhouse will eventually be turned into a community center. Specics on the redesign of the course remain uncertain at this point, but tentative plans call for changing the greens to one of the new ultradwarf Bermuda varieties and possibly moving four holes to the west of 305th East Avenue to join the ve holes currently on that section of the course, close to where the new resort will be located. Oberle estimated the project will create more than 2,200 jobs from construction through permanent operation. A tentative opening date for the resort is spring of 2016 and for the golf course late summer or fall of 2015. try, and CEO Doug Parker has said it will be able to provide more service through their combined business. Technically American Airlines and US Airways are operating as separate carriers until they obtain a single operating certicate from the Federal Aviation Administration, which usually takes 18 to 24 months. However, both airlines are operated by American Airlines Group and can sell tickets on each others ights. New ight options will greatly benet our area and will encourage increased business travel, as well as tourism travel, said Justin McLaughin, senior vice president of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. American Airlines operates a 6,000-employee maintenance and overhaul facility at Tulsa International
Kyle Arnold 918-581-8380
kyle.arnold@tulsaworld.com

BOK Financial completes Kansas acquisition

Tulsa-based BOK Financial

FAIR
FROM E1

Among the plethora of job openings theyll nd are those for accounting, assistant managers, child support and welfare specialists, clerical, CNC machinists, sheet metal fabricators, cooks, customer service associates, engineers, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses, welders, retail bankers, quality assurance and much more. Everyone should bring a resume copy and drop it off

at the Tulsa World kiosk. We will scan in all the resumes and put them in our job seeker database that employers can have access to, Boyaci said. We will have a Job Seeker Resource area on site for job seekers to utilize for companies that require applications to be submitted electronically. The career fair is presented in partnership with Workforce Oklahoma. Visit tulsaworld.com/careerfair for more details.
Laurie Winslow 918-581-8466
laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com

TULSA WORLD CAREER FAIR TIPS Before the Career Fair

Research the participating employers you find interesting. Prepare your resume and have someone proof read it. Make plenty of resume copies to hand out. Some employers will ask that you submit your resume online. Plan what you will wear. Professional clothes that dont wrinkle easy are best. Be sure to wear appropriate shoes. Youll want something comfortable that looks nice. (Leave the flip flops at home.) Prepare an introduction to use with employers that explains why you are at the Career Fair. Include a sentence or two about the type of position you are looking for and why you are qualified to fill the position. Have some questions to ask recruiters about their organization. Get a baby sitter. Its best to leave the kids home so you arent distracted while talking to recruiters.

At the Career Fair

Stop at the main table and get a bag and map. Make a plan for which booths to hit first. Always mind your manners. Greet employers on your own, not with a group of friends. Shake the recruiters hand and introduce yourself. Speak clearly and make eye contact. Dont chew gum. Carry a note pad to jot down important information. Get a business card. Visit every booth. Opportunities may exist in fields that differ from yours.

FLIGHT
FROM B1

Technically the aircraft will carry US Airways regional jet paint, at least until American Airlines nishes painting all planes in its merger partners eet. The new ight qualies the airline for Tulsa Internationals incentives of $75,000 in marketing funds and a waiver of landing and takeoff fees on the ight for its rst 18 months. American and US Airways are also adding two daily ights to Oklahoma City from Charlotte starting July 3, although those will be own by another of US Airways wholly owned subsidiaries, Mesa Airlines. PSA Airlines is also wholly owned by American Airlines Group Inc. after the merger. Its one of the things that we thought was a possibility

After the Career Fair

Go through all the information you collected. Follow up with an email or letter to recruiters to reaffirm your interest in working for the organization. Answer your phone and email to set up an interview.

FLEX
FROM E1

smooth back I was always mildly afraid I would drop the phone. Also, because the ex action takes a fair amount of pressure, dont expect much bending. Even having it in your pocket while wearing snug jeans wont bend it, though it still doesnt take up too much space, even with the curve.

and down and control the space each app takes up. The Flexs biggest drawback is the camera, which proves that megapixel count isnt everything. Sure, the 13-megapixel lens takes great shots outside, but low-light indoor shots can get a little fuzzy. Beyond that, the Flexs performance stands up well compared to the average. Its curved form may not offer much beyond curiosity, but its grafted onto a solid smartphone.

OKLAHOMA AGRICULTURE
Oklahoma markets
The state Department of Agriculture reported the following prices Friday. U.S. No 1 HARD RED WINTER WHEAT: .04 to .15 higher. 6.44-6.69. Davis 6.44, Frederick, Hobart, Lawton, Temple 6.49, Shattuck 6.52, Alva, Buffalo 6.53, Cherokee, Manchester, Medford, Ponca City 6.56, Perry, Stillwater 6.57, Banner, Clinton, Eldorado, El Reno 6.59, Geary, Okarche, Okeene, Watonga, Weatherford, 6.62, Hooker 6.65, Keyes 6.69, Gulf 7.52. MILO: .14 to .18 higher. 7.64-7.89. Alva, Buffalo, Manchester 7.64, Medford, Ponca City, Shattuck, Weatherford 7.73, Keyes 7.84, Hooker 7.89, SOYBEANS: .20 to .21 higher. 13.3313.65. Hooker 13.33, Alva, Buffalo 13.56, Shattuck 13.57, Medford, Ponca City 13.64, Stillwater 13.65, Gulf 15.03. CORN: .08 to .10 higher. 4.28-4.84. Manchester 4.28, Medford, Ponca City 4.33, Keyes 4.74, Hooker 4.84, Gulf 5.48. CANOLA (CWT) N/A: Red Rock, El Reno, Yukon, Dacoma, Clyde, Hillsdale, Apache, Enid, McWillie, Bison N/A. COTTON: Grade 41, Leaf 4, Staple 34 Cotton in southwestern Oklahoma averaged 81.00 cents per pound. EGGS: Large 1.63; medium 1.35; small 1.03.