BUSINESS BRIEFS
Mokulele Air offers $28 Maui flight
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Mokulele Airlines, which is launching service to Maui on Feb. 1, said it will offer a discounted $28 fare from Honolulu to the Valley Isle for the month of February.
Competitors Hawaiian and go! airlines said they would match the fare. The fare does not include taxes and fees. Seats are limited.
Tickets must be purchased by Feb. 14, and the fare is good through Feb. 28. The fare is $11 less than Mokulele's previously lowest fare of $39 from Honolulu to Maui, the company said.
As part of the promotion, Mokulele also is offering 1,000 frequent-flier miles on Alaska Airlines for each one-way interisland leg flown on Mokulele. Alaska Airlines miles are redeemable on 16 different airlines, including Mokulele.
Mokulele, which previously flew exclusively turboprop planes on interisland routes, began jet service in the fall between Ho-nolulu and Lihu'e and Kona, using 70-seat Embraer E170 jets operated by Shuttle America, a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways.
GO! PASSENGERS UP 14.4% LAST MONTH
Interisland carrier go! said its airplanes were 67.1 percent full in December, up from 65.8 percent in the same month last year.The airline flew 58,833 passengers in December, up 14.4 percent from a year earlier.
For all of 2008, go!'s load factor was 67.7 percent, up from 67.2 percent the year before. go! carried 796,507 passengers in 2008, up 15.2 percent from 691,533 passengers in 2007.
Paul Skellon, vice president of go!, said the airline will add another aircraft to its fleet this spring because of stronger-than-anticipated traffic in recent months and an encouraging trend in advanced bookings.
go! is a subsidiary of Arizona-based Mesa Air Group Inc.
PANEL WILL DISCUSS ECONOMY OF ISLES
State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert is among the government and private sector panelists who will discuss the state's economy next week at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Hong Kong Business Association of Hawaii.Panelists will share their thoughts, strategies and plans of how to do business in this tough economic time. Joining Wienert will be Cleota Brown, head of operation for ING Direct Hawaii; Gerald N. Whitehead, chairman of Tower Engineering Hawaii; Gerald A. Sumida, a partner in Carlsmith Ball LLP; and Steve Craven, HKBA past chairman, who will serve as moderator.
The event is set for Wednesday in Waikiki at the ING Direct Cafe, Alii room. Registration starts at 7:45 a.m., with the discussion following from 8:30 to 9:45.
The deadline to RSVP is Sunday, or until all seats are filled. Call Barinna Poon at 383-5008 or e-mail her at info@hkbah.org for details.
MOLOKA'I NURSES RATIFY CONTRACT
Nurses at Molokai General Hospital, who last year agreed to be represented by the Hawaii Nurses Association, have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement.Highlights of the three-year contract include full-time status for registered nurses working 36 hours per week, according to a news release from the union. The contract, which covers about 10 nurses, includes a 3 percent wage increase in October 2009 and a 3 percent hike in October 2010. It also provides for merit pay increases up to 2 percent.
In addition, a patient-safety clause provides for double-time pay when nurses work beyond a 12-hour shift. The increased pay rates make Molokai General competitive with the rest of the state, the union said.
