Business Notes Airlines

In its desperate effort to keep flying, financially troubled People Express began throwing excess weight overboard last week. In a drastic cost-cutting move, the discount carrier announced plans to eliminate service on Sept. 15 to five of its 49 destinations: Columbia, S.C.; Dayton; Greensboro, N.C.; Nashville and Montreal. To raise cash, the company said, it will begin leasing eight of its 50 Boeing 727 jetliners to another, unnamed airline. But People's plans to streamline itself ran into sudden trouble when the proposed sale of Frontier Airlines for $146 million stalled, at least temporarily. The buyer, United Airlines, reached an impasse in labor talks with Frontier's 500 pilots.