Friday morning headlines

LAX loses out: Those monthly passenger counts at the airport routinely show signficant drops in international traffic because travelers - and airlines - are taking their business to SF, Vegas and even JFK. Since 2000, LAX has lost 12 percent of the seats on its weekly international departures, while other major U.S. gateways posted gains in service to foreign destinations. L.A.'s airport is simply too small and old and uninviting - and it's taken a toll on the local economy because passengers often spend a few days in Socal before moving on. From the LAT:

The trend is alarming local officials, who say San Francisco International Airport may soon eclipse LAX as the highly coveted premier gateway to the Pacific Rim. This could endanger the $4 billion a year that international visitors pump into the Southland's economy. "Everyone assumed that LAX as a gateway would be there by the very fact that it's in L.A.," said Michael Collins, executive vice president of LA Inc., the city's convention and visitors bureau, which has received $33 million from the city's airport agency since 2001 to stimulate travel at LAX and Ontario International Airport.

Sluggish grocery talks: It's looking as if the Food and Commercial Workers union and the major supermarket chains won't be anywhere near a new contract when the old one expires on March 5. Part of the problem is that the union is negotiating separate deals with Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons and in turn the major chains have refused to negotiate with the seven union locals as a group. As a result, contract talks are happening all over the place. For the moment, a strike is looking unlikely, even if a deal isn't cut in 10 days. Locals in other regions often work without a new contract for weeks at a time. LAT

Unaffordable housing: Just 2 percent of the homes sold in the L.A.-area were affordable to families earning an income of $56,200 in the fourth quarter, according to a new survey. That makes L.A. the nation's least affordable housing market. California also accounted for 18 of the nation's 20 least affordable markets. The most affordable? Indianapolis, where the area's median home price was $113,000 (Go Pacers!). Daily News

Vacation home slump: Sales of second homes in the state plummeted 37 percent last year, another sign of a slowdown in the housing market. That's way higher than the 24.9 percent drop in sales for all kinds of homes. But prices were up almost 11 percent, suggesting that the market - and the economy - might be in better shape than the sales numbers would indicate. Otherwise, there would be a fire sale on vacation homes. Second-home sales in California peaked in 2004. LAT

Koreatown housing deal: Kennedy Wilson Inc. is paying $120 million for the 687-unit City Heights complex on West 3rd Street and plans to spend another $11 million to upgrade what used to be corporate housing. Expect rents to rise accordingly. Koreatown is booming these days, thanks to the Red Line expansion, South Korea's favorable exchange rate and the area's growing reputation as a cool place for young Angelenos to live. Kennedy Wilson bought the property from Essex Property Trust. LAT

MySpace gets help: Fox Interactive Media, which owns the social networking site, is buying Santa Monica-based Strategic Data Corp., which has developed systems that can somehow decide which ads to show which visitors. That should help MySpace turn all those visits into revenue. Bev Hills-based Fox Interactive is second only to Yahoo in monthly page views. Strategic Data was funded with venture money in 2000. NYT LAT

Another Focker flick: It's being called "Little Fockers" and will be the third installment of the lucrative Universal franchise. Jay Roach, who directed both "Meet the Parents" and "Meet the Fockers," is on board, and the producers are trying to get back all the stars from the previous two films, which grossed $845 million worldwide. Variety

"The Producers" to close: Its final Broadway performance will be April 22 - six years and three days after it opened. That makes it the 18th-longest running show in Broadway history (the thing could have gone on forever, but casting proved to be troublesome after Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick left the production). To date, the Mel Brooks musical comedy has grossed $283 million - and in the process changed the way Broadway works. From the NYT:

The day after it opened, the production began charging $100 for orchestra seats, the first open-ended commercial run to do so regularly. And six months later the producers began setting aside seats at every performance and charging $480 each for them, inventing the now-standard premium ticket. The show had recouped its $10.5 million investment less than eight months after opening.