By GEORGE RAINE, San Francisco Chronicle

Virgin America could not have picked a worse time to launch an airline, on the eve of gravity-defying fuel prices and a cruel recession.
The financial numbers are still red after a year and a half of operations, but the chief executive sees a break in the clouds and profitability on the horizon.

The 2008 Chevrolet Suburban is a lot of vehicle, perhaps more ideally suited for the U.S. Border Patrol than for the average commuter. But Kent Carl, of Carl Chevrolet in San Jose, Calif., would like to think it's too good of a deal to pass up.

Air New Zealand has conducted a two-hour test flight in which one of four Rolls-Royce engines on a jetliner was powered by a biofuel blend, another step down the long path the airline industry is taking to reduce carbon emissions.

We've heard a lot about the "wisdom of crowds" in recent years, mostly in relation to Internet sites that let their readers make key decisions.Digg.com, for instance, is a news site that lets its readers choose which stories are most important. Then there's Yelp.com, which lets users review products and services in hopes of gaining a consensus.

People around the world are experiencing sticker shock at the grocery store, the result of runaway economic forces that show no signs of abating.Here in the United States, the price of eggs jumped 29 percent last year. Dairy products are up more than 7 percent. And the price of corn has tripled in the past four years.It's even worse worldwide.

Cargo is moving without interruption at 29 West Coast ports despite the expiration of a contract that covered more than 25,000 dockworkers and their employers.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even as the nation's economy sputtered and consumer confidence waned, more than 16 million people visited San Francisco last year and spent $8.2 billion, both all-time highs for tourism in the city.

If you're still fuming from being confined in an airplane sitting on the tarmac last year, as many thousands of passengers were, some relief may be at hand. Maybe even some revenge.