ATA AIRLINES is replacing 737-800s with 757-200s, adding 50 additional seats on its daily August flights between Oakland and Hilo to meet unexpectedly strong demand. ATA’s codeshare partnership with Southwest provides numerous cities with direct links to Hilo.
General Hawaii News: July 2006 Archives
United Airlines has made its first quarterly profit in six years. The company was so excited it reported the results a week early.
Revenues ran 15 percent higher than a year earlier. Operating margin, only 1.1 percent a year ago, improved to 5.5 percent. Profit was $119 million.
STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS has begun sales for the 179-unit Westin Princeville Ocean Resort on Kauai, a timeshare property with two- and three-bedroom units starting in the low $30,000s for a one-week purchase. The first units are scheduled for occupancy in 2008.
Labor and management at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu's North Shore have tentatively approved a labor agreement after four years without a contract.
UNITE HERE Local 5 and Benchmark Hospitality, the company that manages Turtle Bay Resort's hotel, agreed to new terms of employment, which union members will be asked to ratify on Saturday.
The union will withdraw the consumer boycott it launched at the 880-acre resort. And the tentative settlement likely will make it more attractive for the resort to find a buyer or equity partner.
Aloha Airlines has entered into an e-ticketing alliance with Japan Airlines that could encourage Japanese visitors to spend more time on neighbor islands.
Interline e-ticketing, which eliminates the possibility of losing paper tickets en route, already is extended by Aloha to 10 other carriers include Air Canada and all the major U.S. carriers serving Hawaii.
"Aloha has welcomed Japanese visitors to Hawaii for the past 60 years," said Aloha CEO David Banmiller. "Along with other steps we are taking, this makes traveling on Aloha even more convenient for passengers from Japan."
The new IHOP inside the Ohana Waikiki Malia Hotel, open one month as of Tuesday, already is the third highest billing location of the chain.
The franchise inside the 327-room hotel at 2211 Kuhio Ave., owned by Vince and Sarah Espino, has 85 staff members.
IHOP has 1,200 restaurants in the United States and Canada.
THE NAPILI KAI BEACH RESORT on Maui has upgraded its Web site, adding a live webcam, video and a photo gallery that enables users to send postcards from the Web site.
THE HANALEI COLONY RESORT on Kauai’s North Shore is now home to The Mediterranean Gourmet Restaurant, featuring fresh fish with “a Mediterranean twist.” The oceanside restaurant, once home to Charro’s, adds a fine-dining option for visitors to Kauai’s scenic North Shore and is within a few minutes of Haena Beach.
Kauai was named the number one island in Hawaii by readers of Travel+Leisure magazine in the publication's 2006 World's Best Awards.
"Because this honor is voted on by travelers, being named 'Hawaii's Best Island' is a wonderful reflection on Kauai's communities and people," said Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste.
Respondents judged the islands on five characteristics: natural attractions, activities/sights, restaurants/food, people, and value.
"Travelers are always struck by our abundance of physical beauty and I think it showed in this year's survey," said Kelly Hoen, general manager of Princeville Resort and chairwoman of the Kauai Visitors Bureau.
Local 5 of the UNITE-HERE union is set to resume negotiations with Hilton Hotels Corp. and Marriott International Inc. this week in Waikiki.
Hilton made a wage offer a week ago that included 3.25 percent raises over each of four years. Local 5 said it was studying the offer. The Hilton Hawaiian Village is the largest Hilton campus in the world and is owned as well as operated by the company.
Last week Local 5 met with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which holds the branding and management contracts on the Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian, Moana Surfrider and Princess Kaiulani hotels. It also met with representatives of the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES has requested a preliminary injunction against Mesa Air Group. The filing claims that Go, Mesa's start-up interisland carrier, was launched with the aid of proprietary information gathered when Mesa was considering buying Aloha and Hawaiian when they were in bankruptcy in 2004 and 2005. Hawaiian is seeking a year-long ban on Go issuing interisland tickets.
From Pacific Business News
Airlines are flying 2,584,027 seats to Hawaii this month through September, a revised state analysis showed Wednesday.
The Scheduled Seats Outlook, by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, is a rolling three-month average drawn from the airlines' own published schedules.
The new outlook, removing June and adding September, shows 4.1 percent more seats despite Japanese capacity that is still down more than 11 percent.
Seats from east of the Rockies are down 8.4 percent but capacity from west of the Rockies is up 11.5 percent. This does not necessarily reflect a shift in where visitors come from, but does suggest that more visitors from U.S. East will be catching the final leg of their flights in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Phoenix.
Phoenix continues to be the big new source of air capacity to Hawaii, having overtaken Seattle as the third leading market for seats to the islands. Phoenix capacity in the new report is up 153 percent from last year.
THE Waikiki Parc, the Aqua Waikiki Wave and the W Honolulu Diamond Head have each announced plans for property-wide upgrades. The W will continue as a Starwood brand after a planned purchase and rebranding fell through.
