JetBlue revives promotion that allows unlimited travel

JetBlue is bringing back its All-You-Can-Jet pass, which allows anyone to travel to an unlimited number of cities over a one-month period.

It’s a chance for the airline to fill empty seats during what is traditionally the slowest time of the year and hopefully, for JetBlue, to create the same wide-ranging buzz it generated last year when it inaugurated the promotion.

And for consumers with wanderlust, stamina, $700, or better yet, a combination of all three, it’s a continual ticket to any destination in the U.S. and Caribbean for 30 days.

The pass is valid for flights between Sept. 7 and Oct. 6, JetBlue announced Tuesday. There are two price tiers: an unlimited pass for $699 or a $499 pass that excludes travel on Fridays and Sunday.

Mazda recalling vehicles to repair steering problems

Mazda Motor Corp. is recalling 215,000 Mazda3 and Mazda5 vehicles to fix problems with the power-steering system that could lead to a crash.

The Japanese automaker told the government the recall involved model year 2007-2009 Mazda3 and Mazda5 vehicles built from April 2007 through November 2008.

Mazda says the vehicles could have a sudden loss of power-steering assist, making it more difficult for the driver to steer the vehicle. The automaker says that could increase the risk of a crash.

Household debt decreases as consumers shun credit

Household debt fell 1.5 percent in the second quarter as consumers, facing an unemployment rate near a 26-year high, cut mortgages and credit-card accounts, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported.

Respondents to a quarterly survey of consumers conducted by the New York Fed for the first time showed total consumer indebtedness was $11.7 trillion at the end of June, down 6.5 percent from its peak in the third quarter of 2008. Household delinquency rates declined in the second quarter for the first time since early 2006, falling to 11.4 percent of outstanding debt from 11.9 percent on March 31, the New York Fed said.

“Major declines in house prices and the continuing high level of unemployment are reflected in the various measures of household debt and credit,” Wilbert van der Klaauw, vice president for research and statistics at the regional bank, said Tuesday in a news release.

Global packaging business to buy Hefty bag maker

Reynolds Group, part of the global packaging business owned by New Zealand’s richest man, said Tuesday it will pay about $4.4 billion for Hefty bag maker Pactiv.

Including debt, the acquisition is valued at around $6 billion. It’s the latest and biggest in a string of deals that has built Reynolds parent company Rank Group Ltd. into a worldwide packaging empire under owner Graeme Hart.

Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd., a Chicago-based subsidiary, is offering Pactiv shareholders $33.25 per share in cash. That’s a premium of about 8 percent over Pactiv’s closing share price of $30.92 on Monday. But it’s 39 percent higher than the closing price May 14, the last trading day before reports of a potential deal began to emerge.

Fox News’ parent gives $1 million to GOP group

The Fox News Channel’s parent company has donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association and helped the GOP group more than double its fundraising in the second quarter of the year.

The RGA helps elect Republican gubernatorial candidates. Government filings show that it raised more than $19 million during the second quarter, compared to more than $9 million in the first quarter.

The parent company of Fox News, News America Inc., is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate News Corp.