JetBird finds clear air on carbon taxes

Current Account:Just when Dómhnail Slattery thought things could not get any better, along came the European Commission on Wednesday with its plan to levy an environmental charge on air travellers.

From 2011, airlines flying within Europe will have to buy permits to cover the carbon dioxide emitted by their aircraft. It could add between €9 and €40 to the price of a ticket.

But the commission said yesterday that very light private jets would be exempt, along with propeller aircraft and, of course, government aircraft.

The good news for Slattery's JetBird air-taxi venture is that the 100 Phenon four-seat jets that it has on order fall into the first category. It is - in the words of JetBird's managing director Paul Geaney - fantastic news.

The company had allowed for environmental charges in its business plan and can now presumably send this money to the bottom line or cut its prices when it gets going in the next few years

It will, however, offer customers the chance to make a voluntary contribution to offset the costs of the carbon emitted during the flight. Right on Dómhnail!

Bono hits sour note on 'Forbes' pension plan

It's been a whirlwind year for Paul Hewson, aka Bono, with the U2 frontman not always receiving the kind of adulation he gets on stage for his various commercial endeavours.

First of all, U2 were castigated for moving a large part of their operations to Amsterdam, and Bono, as the frontman, bore the brunt of the media onslaught. Considering the decision was heavily influenced by U2 manager Paul McGuinness, the attacks on Bono were probably a little unfair.

But sometimes being the frontman for something carries those kinds of risks. For example, during the summer private equity group Elevation Partners - co-founded by Bono who is also managing director - invested in Forbesmagazine, taking a 40 per cent stake.

However, in recent weeks Forbeschairman Steve Forbes informed staff that the pension scheme at the magazine was being changed, with new employees blocked from joining the existing defined-benefit scheme. Other changes are also to be introduced that will make the scheme less attractive.

Forbes counters that these changes are being offset by giving staff a shareholding in the magazine itself for the first time.

Either way this has not mollified Bono's critics who believe he should not be backing any dilution of the pension's current provisions.

One disgruntled employee made his views very clear in recent days on a media website, when he said that Elevation Partners "love to go around talking about their 'do-goodery' progressive politics and helping the little guy and all that. So guess what they just did? Cancelled the Forbes pension. Right before Christmas." Ouch.

Baht week for traders

Vivid language is not always easy to find among equity traders. This year was no exception: most traders were making so much money on behalf of their clients they barely had time to comment to anyone, including the financial press.

But Current Accountdid find traders this week in Thailand using some very expressive language to describe the 18 per cent slump in the Thai stock exchange, one of Asia's largest. The reason was of course the strength of the Thai baht, which has made Thai exports virtually unsellable in most foreign markets.

This development and the recent military coup in the country have left most publicly quoted Thai companies in a shambles. This turn of events prompted one trader to comment to Reuters on Tuesday: "Please call an ambulance, there is a bloodbath."

Based on an astonishing 18 per cent slump across the board, another trader made the somewhat undeniable remark: "I'm not sure if we're going to get a bonus this year."