Business news digest

REGION

New-vehicle sales down from October 2007

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning Valley car dealers sold 1,953 new vehicles in October, compared with 2,500 vehicles in the same month last year.

Dealers sold 3,590 used vehicles last month, compared with 4,036 in October 2007.

The leading new car dealer last month was Sweeney Buick Pontiac GMC in Boardman with 141 sales.

The leading selling vehicle was the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which had 109 sales.

General Motors had increased incentives on its trucks last month.

The figures were released Monday by the Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio.

Cortland Bancorp’s third quarter same as last year

CORTLAND — Cortland Bancorp said it earned $1.08 million in the third quarter, essentially the same amount it earned in the same quarter last year.

For the first nine months of the year, the parent company of Cortland Banks earned $2.9 million, compared with $3.2 million in the same period last year.

The decline was mostly because of increased provisions for loan losses.

The company has set aside $495,000 this year to cover loan losses, while it had no provisions for loan losses during the same time last year.

Wireless, satellite provider plans 240 new hirings

NILES — West Corp. said it will hire 240 people at its call center at 5185 Youngstown Warren Road. It will hold a career fair from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today to talk to people about its openings.

The Nebraska-based company said it is hiring people to handle in-bound calls for one of the nation’s largest wireless communications providers and a leading satellite provider.

nation

Airline-quality study ranks U.S. carriers

DALLAS — Low-cost carriers topped the rankings of U.S. airlines for being on time and uniting bags with passengers, while the big guys such as American Airlines brought up the rear, according to a new study of airline quality.

Overall airline performance continued a 5-year slide during the first half of this year, the researchers said in the study released Monday.

But there were encouraging signs that the performance of the nation’s top 17 airlines might be improving, as on-time arrivals and customer complaint rates improved in early summer over last year’s levels.

The report’s authors said the airlines might continue to sharpen their on-time performance because the skies are less crowded.

Carriers have been eliminating flights in a move designed to reduce costs and drive up ticket prices by creating seat shortages.

From Vindicator staff and wire reports