Business briefs

Aloha Airlines plans inaugural ceremonies at 5:30 a.m. today at McCarran International Airport when its first flight leaves Las Vegas for Hawai‘i.

Aloha will fly two daily roundtrip flights to Las Vegas, one from Honolulu and one from Maui. Both flights will make stops in Oakland, Calif., and arrive late at night in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is the top travel destination for Hawai‘i residents, with about 40,000 people a month traveling from the Islands to the gambling mecca, airline President Glenn Zander said.

Aloha also will have the first flight out each day from Las Vegas to the Bay Area.

Honolulu homes fourth costliest

A national survey shows that Honolulu is continuing to fall in rankings of the nation’s highest home costs. The National Association of Realtors said Honolulu’s prices are the fourth-highest in the nation, down from third last year.

At one time, Hawai‘i topped the national rankings. The association’s latest survey shows San Francisco with the highest median home price at $470,200 — up 27 percent from a year ago. Boston is second, followed by the Anaheim/Santa Ana area of California.

The cheapest homes are found in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area of New York, where the median price is $78,100.

Hearing to be held on Local 5

A hearing is scheduled next week to determine if Local 5 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union should be placed under a trustee.

The hearing was ordered by John Wilhelm, the union’s international general president.

Wilhelm also instructed Local 5 leader Eric Gill to halt any attempt to execute a new labor contract with the Hawaii Council of Hotels.

Wilhelm’s action comes at a time when the Hawai‘i union is negotiating a contract with the management group representing Waikiki hotels.

Wilhelm had warned Local 5 in December to settle lingering disputes between Gill and an executive board dominated by backers of his rival, Tony Rutledge.

Gill last year narrowly beat Rutledge for the top Local 5 job.

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