The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $354,500 civil penalty against US Airways Inc. for operating a jet on hundreds of flights without completing required testing on a new fuel pump.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline has 30 days to respond to the proposed fine. The FAA and the airline can reach an agreement over the alleged violation or settle the issue in civil court.

The federal agency said the airline operated a Boeing 757 jet on 916 flights after replacing a leaking engine fuel pump on Aug. 3, 2010. But the FAA said the airline failed to carry out federally required tests and inspections before the airline began to carry passengers.

The plane flew between Aug. 3 and Dec. 3, 2010, with the new fuel pump without performing the tests and inspection, the FAA said.

A spokeswoman for the airline said it operated the airline in compliance with FAA rules and plans to respond to the proposed fine soon.

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California's recent surges in the price of gasoline have prompted calls in Congress for hearings into the causes.

The top Republicans on two Senate committees, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, on Wednesday called on the Democratic leaders of their panels to hold a hearing as soon as next month when Congress returns for a post-election lame-duck session.

The senators want to examine, among other things, what role regulation has played in price increases.

"Every time there’s a price spike, there are cries of manipulation or something nefarious," said Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Murkowski, top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "We ought to look at the policies we’ve put in place as lawmakers and decide whether they’ve been good for the price of gas."

Video: Why California gas prices are still so high

California’s Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, have called for federal investigations of the...

NEW YORK -- Rajat Gupta, a former director of Goldman Sachs, will spend two years in jail and an additional year on supervised release for his role in a sprawling insider-trading scheme on Wall Street.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Gupta to report to prison Dec. 11 and pay $5 million in fines. A jury convicted Gupta of securities fraud and conspiracy in June.

Federal prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of as long as 10 years. Gupta's lawyers asked Rakoff for a term of community service, helping homeless youth in New York or rural poor in Rwanda. 

Gupta is the highest-profile figure in the federal government's campaign against insider-trading, which Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, has called rampant on Wall Street.

Once head of the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey & Co., Gupta also served on the boards of Goldman and consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co.

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Holiday shoppers will be spending a little more this year, but as in recent years they’ll continue to be disciplined and go online for better deals.

Consumers are expected to spend an average of $582 on holiday shopping, according to Accenture's annual consumer holiday shopping survey, and 23% plan to spend over $750. About half expect to increase their spending by $250 or more, with only 5% saying they would be “extravagant” in their shopping and 8% indicating they would “splurge.”

About 51% of those surveyed said they have already set aside cash for their holiday shopping.

“Self-sacrificing will be down and spending will be slightly up; however, our research also shows that shoppers will remain disciplined in their spending,” said Chris Donnelly, managing director of Accenture’s retail practice.

“Retailers need to focus on creating in-store excitement, providing standout products and services, and delivering a seamless experience...

With Ford's F-series trucks the most popular vehicle in the U.S. (by far; the company sells roughly 76 trucks every hour), it should surprise exactly no one that Ford would be bringing a few concept trucks to this year's SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The three the company has on tap were each built by outside contractors and show the varying ways in which a pickup truck can be interpreted.

The first project starts life as a 2013 Ford F-150 FX-2 Sport SuperCab. Then Truckin' Magazine got its hands on it and is working to turn it into what you see above. The truck will be lowered, given a performance brake package, put on 22-inch rims, and given a thorough exhaust makeover with an aim of 500 rear-wheel horsepower from the 3.5-liter, turbocharged EcoBoost engine.

Next, Truckin' Magazine is taking a 2013 F-150 FX-2 SuperCab in an entirely different direction: down. The truck, seen at right, will be lowered, given a performance brake package, put on 22-inch rims and given a thorough exhaust...

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday held steady on their new stimulus program, launching no new initiatives while saying there has been some improvement in household spending and an uptick in inflation since the effort began last month.

In a statement after its two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee left short-tern interest rates unchanged and reiterated that it planned to keep them at their current level at least through mid-2015 because of the struggling economy.

Six weeks after the Fed fired what might be its last bullet to try to strengthen the recovery, analysts did not expect the central bank to make any major new announcements Wednesday. And Fed policymakers complied, making only some slight revisions in its view of economic conditions from their statement at the end of September's meeting.

The assessment of overall growth was the same, with the Fed saying that "economic activity continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months." Despite...

The cost to visit Grandma this Thanksgiving is up 9% over last year.

But if you are flexible on your travel days, you could save up to $288 on airline tickets, according to the Travelocity website, which calculated the average airfares for the period of Nov. 17 to Nov. 27.

The average round-trip domestic airline fare for that period is $386, including tax, a 9% increase over the same period in 2011, according to Travelocity.

But that fare is $5 below the average domestic fare around the Fourth of July holiday, the website said.

Video: Airline seats are getting tighter

Travelers who fly out of Los Angeles airports will pay an average of $415 for a round-trip domestic ticket, a 7% increase over last year, Travelocity said.

To save up to $288, Travelocity senior editor Courtney Scott said travelers should depart on Thanksgiving Day and return either Friday, Nov. 23 or wait until Tuesday, Nov. 27, off-peak days when tickets are cheaper because demand is lower.

Also, most major airlines impose a...

The do-gooding spirit is thriving in the U.S., with 81% of Americans planning to maintain or boost their donations this year, according to a new report.

That’s nine percentage points higher than 2011 and 18 points above 2010, according to Fidelity Charitable, which offers programs to boost altruism. The average American plans to give $2,400, up from $2,100 last year.

Three-quarters of the 571 respondents said they don’t donate in order to benefit from tax deductions. Seven in 10 are influenced by their experiences with illness or death, while two-thirds say it’s a holiday tradition to give.

Less than half do it to set a good example or because of personal financial changes such as a new job, a raise or lower household expenses, according to the report.

Most Americans also stressed the importance of teaching charitable giving to children. Many urge their families to volunteer time or offer gifts from allowances.

Nationally, charitable gifts from individuals totaled $218...

Yelp Inc., the San Francisco-based review website, watched its stock surge Wednesday after announcing its $50-million purchase of Qype, a similar European site that will help Yelp’s global expansion

The stock touched $27.65 a share a share in trading Wednesday, a 15.2% increase from Tuesday’s close.

Yelp is already established in 19 countries, but the acquisition of German company Qype will strengthen its presence in 13 European nations.

Qype contributors have submitted more than 2 million reviews of local businesses; Yelp users have written more than 30 million. More than 15 million unique visitors use the Qype service each month; Yelp has 78 million.

“Bringing Qype into the fold will enable us to accelerate our international growth and increase our benefit to consumers and businesses,” wrote Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s chief executive and cofounder, in a blog post.

Yelp picked up all of Qype’s shares for 18.6 million euros, or $24.1 million. The Bay Area...

The federal government has filed another mortgage-fraud lawsuit against Bank of America, contending that defective loans generated by the bank's Countrywide Financial Corp. subsidiary caused mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lose more than $1 billion.

A statement Wednesday from the office of U.S. Atty. Preet Bharara in New York said that after the subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007, Calabasas-based Countrywide devised a loan-processing system called "Hustle" to "process loans at high speed and without quality checkpoints."

BofA used the Hustle system after acquiring Countrywide in 2008, according to the lawsuit, described as the Justice Department's first civil fraud suit over loans sold to Fannie and Freddie. The companies were seized by the government during the financial crisis in a bailout that has cost taxpayers $137 billion.

Document: The complaint filed against BofA

Federal prosecutors said that from 2007 through 2009, the Hustle system “generated...

After recent news that Chevy would officially unveil the all-new 2014 Corvette just prior to the Detroit Auto Show in January, the company said it would periodically release details about the car before the launch.

Wednesday, it started with the engine.

Powering the C7 Corvette will be a 6.2-liter V-8 that will pump out 450 horsepower at 6,000 RPM and 450 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 RPM. That's a gain of 20 horsepower and 26 pound-feet of torque over the current base engine. Chevy says the new motor, dubbed LT-1, is good for a sub-four-second 0-60 mph time.

But the new engine isn't just about speed, it's about efficiency too. For the first time, the Corvette will get fuel-saving technologies like direct injection, variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation. This means that the 2014 car will hit the same 26 mpg rating for highway driving as the current car, despite the boost in power.

This is just the first in a series of details on the 2014 Corvette that will trickle out...