AIRLINES
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
American Airlines Trial Nears End: The airline’s chairman, Robert Crandall, was portrayed as both a ruthless bully and a creative industry leader by lawyers making final arguments in a $3-billion predatory-pricing trial. American is accused by Northwest and Continental airlines of trying to crush weaker competitors, especially those teetering on bankruptcy, with last summer’s “value pricing” plan and an ensuing half-price ticket sale. The resulting fare wars helped cause multimillion-dollar losses in an industry already hobbled by recession. Jurors were expected to begin deliberating this morning.
