Schuler Homes' orders up 24% over last 2 months

Schuler Homes Inc. said it took orders for 978 new homes in April and May, the first two months of its new fiscal year, a 24.4 percent increase from 786 orders in the same period last year. New orders in Hawaii for the latest two months totaled 61, up 10.9 percent from 55 in the year-earlier period. Most of the new orders were in California, 568 in April and May, up 73.7 percent from 327 during April and May 2000.

Honolulu-headquartered Schuler, which completed a merger with California-based Western Pacific Housing on April 3, said the numbers were reported as if the companies had been combined last year as well as this year.

Aloha Air tops U.S. again in on-time performance

Aloha Airlines had better on-time performance in April than any of the nation's major airlines, with 87.5 percent of its flights officially registered as on-time, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In second place for April was Continental Airlines, with an 85.7 percent on-time performance, followed by Trans World Airlines, at 83.3 percent.Of the 12 airlines now reporting each month to the federal government, Aloha is the only one doing so voluntarily. The others are required to report because they each earn at least 1 percent of the U.S. airlines' total revenue from scheduled flights and Aloha is not that big.

Hawaiian Waikiki Beach foreclosure sale OK'd

The $80 million sale of the 719-room Hawaiian Waikiki Beach Hotel to the holder of its mortgage was confirmed in state Circuit Court yesterday.

Judge Karen Blondin allowed Hawaii Ventures LLC, the only bidder at a foreclosure auction May 16, to go ahead and take over the hotel, but she ruled that cash in the hotel's hands, which was as high as $7 million in recent weeks, should not be disposed of until claims of other parties are resolved.

One party is the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, which has 232 members working at the hotel, and claims they will be owed some $1.3 million in severance pay and unused vacation and sick leave benefits when they are laid off at the end of this month.

Blondin earlier this week said she will rule later on whose responsibility it is to pay for those benefits. Attorneys in Blondin's court yesterday said the ownership transfer does not involve money, because Hawaii Ventures' parent, Leucadia National Corp., is owed much more than the $80 million that its subsidiary offered in what is called a credit bid.

[Taking Notice]

NEW JOBS

>> Christopher Scully and Marc Udoff have been named management executives for Hawaiiana Management Co. Ltd. Scully most recently served as assistant general manager at Restaurant Pier 7. Udoff left Les Concierges Inc., where he was a corporate concierge for the Pacific Guardian Center.

>> Kaidi Kubo, Cyrus Mukawa, Sixto Amian, Patrick Graham, Alexander Meimer and Clifford Shinichi have been named personal financial advisors for the Honolulu office of American Express Financial Advisors Inc.

>> Frederick "Rick" Ahn has been named athletic director for the Honolulu Club. He will oversee the personal training, group fitness and sports and recreation departments at the club.

PROMOTIONS

>> Trudy E. Vella was promoted to broker-In-charge of Century 21's Princeville branch office. She also has been presented with the company's Centurion Award, placing her in the top 3 percent of Century 21 sales associates nationwide.