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Hawaiian Air's numbers mixed

Hawaiian Airlines' scheduled revenue passenger miles increased 5.6 percent last month from a year earlier even as the number of passengers declined.

The carrier, which is in the process of reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said revenue passenger miles grew to 561.1 million from 531 million a year ago. A revenue passenger mile is one paying passenger carried one mile.

Hawaiian's number of passengers, however, fell 5.4 percent to 527,446 from 557,453. For the year, the airline's passenger count is down 1.6 percent to 3.2 million from 3.3 million.

With fewer seat miles available in July and aided by the busy summer season, Hawaiian's load factor increased 6.7 percentage points to 88.3 percent from 81.6 percent a year ago. The load factor is the percentage of seats that are filled. The airline said it had 635.2 seat miles available last month, a decrease of 2.3 percent from 650.4 million a year ago.

Hawaiian's figures combine all its operations -- interisland, mainland-Hawaii and Hawaii-South Pacific. Hawaiian also reported an 8.2 percent decline in July charter passenger volume.

Pampered pooches travel in style

The 759-room Westin Maui will have some new guests soon: Family dogs.

The hotel is designating some rooms for dogs, part of a company-wide program, though Starwood does not think many guests will bring dogs to Hawaii, despite recent changes in the state's quarantine laws. Animals may qualify for a reduced five-day or shorter quarantine if pre-arrival and post-arrival requirements are met.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., owner of the Sheraton, Westin and W hotel chains, is seeking dog owners as customers. Oversized pet pillows, plush doggie robes and in-room dog massages will be among the services offered.

Starwood, the world's largest hotel owner, is reaching out to dog lovers as a slump in business travel and tourism reduces sales. Some 29 million people in the U.S. travel with their dogs, the company said, citing industry data. The company's Westin and Sheraton hotels will allow dogs to stay for free, while the W chain will charge a flat fee of $25, Starwood spokesman Mark Ricci said. The W chain is the only one of the three that will accept cats, Ricci said.

Other Starwood hotels in Hawaii are not yet participating in the program, but they plan to, once they have proper pet supplies, a spokeswoman said.

Local biotech gets results

Aiea firm Hawaii Biotech Inc. said its anti-inflammatory compound Cardax saved 56 percent of heart tissue placed at risk in heart attacks in rats, in preclinical results.

The company said it is encouraged because Cardax compares well with other agents that failed in human clinical trials because of toxicity and other reasons.

The results of the study, done at the Medical College of Wisconsin, have not yet been published. Cardax is being tested in larger animals, with study results expected late this year. Human clinical trials are scheduled to follow using a second-generation Cardax compound.

Alan Wong hires on at Hualalai

The Big Island's Hualalai Resort is partnering with isle chef Alan Wong, developing a new menu and training staff at the Club Grille restaurant.

Wong, who will work with a team, will also develop a menu for a new clubhouse, to open in 2005, and will help with menu changes at two other restaurants at Hualalai, a master-planned resort on 865 acres on the Kohala Coast. The Club Grille's new look is scheduled to debut in November. Honolulu-based Philpotts & Associates Inc. is redesigning the dining room.

The two hotel restaurants operated by Four Seasons Resort Hualalai will continue to be managed by the hotel.

Judge delays buyout of Clayton Homes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. >> A judge yesterday ordered Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition of Clayton Homes delayed until a jury can decide if Clayton directors committed fraud in pursuit of the $1.7 billion buyout.

Blount County Circuit Judge Dale Young said the Denver Area Meat Cutters and Employers Pension Plan established legal grounds for their allegation. He restrained Clayton Homes and Berkshire Hathaway from "any action to change the status quo of the subject merger" until a trial can be held in 30 to 45 days, pending appeals.

Clayton Homes attorney Ed Fuhr called the action unprecedented because the purchase is virtually complete, and said the manufactured home company will appeal. Clayton Homes contends the buyout took effect Aug. 7, when the companies filed papers in Delaware, where the Maryville-based company is incorporated.

IBM cuts 600 jobs and pay for more workers

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. >> Weakness in the worldwide computer chip industry cost 600 IBM workers their jobs yesterday and 3,000 others will have to forgo a week's worth of wages next month as the company tries to right its struggling technology unit.

The company, the world's largest provider of computer hardware, laid off 500 workers at its Vermont plant, about three dozen at a factory in Endicott, N.Y., and others at facilities in Rochester, Minn.; Austin, Texas; and Raleigh, N.C.

IBM spokesman Jeffrey Couture said the job cuts would take effect immediately. Although IBM posted profits for its second quarter, it lost money in its microelectronics business amid an industry-wide downturn.

In other news ...

>> Giant toy retailer Toys "R" Us Inc. said yesterday it cut its second-quarter loss by a third as higher sales for its Internet, international and baby products divisions helped offset rising overhead expenses and slumping sales at its U.S. toy and children's apparel stores.

>> Northwest Airlines won government permission yesterday to fund its pension plans with a subsidiary's stock instead of cash, a strategy used only twice before by struggling companies.

>> Personal bankruptcies continued at a record pace in the 12 months ended June 30 as Americans struggled with the debt they took on in the 1990s, totaling 1,613,097 -- an all-time high for any 12-month period.