Hawaiian Airlines' passenger count increased by more than 35,000 in November.

The state's largest airline said it flew 664,959 people last month, a 5.7 percent increase from November 2008's 629,381.

Hawaiian said its planes flew 84.4 percent full in November, which was 5.3 percentage points ahead of the year's 79.1 percent.

HONOLULU 54TH IN 'BANG FOR THE BUCK' LIST

Honolulu has come in at No. 54 in Forbes magazine's "Best Bang-For-The Buck Cities," which attempts to come up with a ranking of cities based on their housing markets, employment, cost-of-living and quick commutes.

Omaha, Neb., was at the top of the list of 100 cities, while the worst was the Los Angeles-Santa Ana metropolitan area.

Honolulu's ranking was pulled down by its last-place ranking in housing affordability and its 97th-place showing in the job forecast category.

BANKS OPT OUT OF FDIC INSURANCE PLAN

Hawai'i's two biggest banks will not insure checking accounts for more than $250,000 starting in January, joining the nation's largest lenders in opting out of the federal government's extra checking insurance program.

Checking and savings accounts at First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of Hawaii Corp. will continue to be insured for up to $250,000.

But both banks have recently decided to opt out of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Transaction Account Guarantee Program. The program, created to boost public confidence in the banking system hit hard by last year's global economic collapse, provided unlimited coverage for non-interest-bearing checking accounts.

First Hawaiian and Bank of Hawaii join the nation's largest banks such as Citigroup Inc., JP Morgan and Wells Fargo & Co. who have exited the FDIC program, according to Bloomberg News.