Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, May 17, 1999
United Air boosting isle summer service
United Airlines today said it will add 2,107 additional seats a week to Hawaii during the peak July-August summer travel season.United is adding a daily round-trip flight between San Francisco and Maui aboard a DC-10 and is substituting a larger Boeing 747-400 for a DC-10 on its San Francisco-Kona service. The 747-400 seats 301 passengers, compared with 287 for the DC-10. United spokesman Joe Hopkins said the airline normally doesn't add capacity to Hawaii during the summer months. The airline also said it will offer discounted business fares on certain Hawaii flights with aircraft having three seating classes. The changes take effect July 2 through Sept. 6.
Passenger count up 4.1% at Hawaiian
Hawaiian Airlines Inc. today said its passenger count for April rose 4.1 percent. The airline last month carried 457,618 passengers, compared with 439,553 in April 1998. Its revenue passenger miles (one paying passenger carried one mile) surged 7.7 percent to nearly 397 million. But Hawaiian's seating capacity increased 11.7 percent, reducing the average occupancy of its aircraft from 79.9 percent a year ago to 77 percent last month.
Airline, attendants reach contract deal
DALLAS -- American Airlines and its flight attendants' union have reached a tentative agreement after nearly nine months of contract talks. AMR Corp., the airline's parent company, and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents 20,000 members, did not disclose details of the plan. But they said the pact provides pay increases, improvements in retirement and increased scheduling flexibility.
In other news . . .
SEATTLE -- Amazon.com Inc., the largest Internet retailer, said it will cut prices on some best-selling books by half as competition intensifies with other online booksellers. Amazon.com said starting today it will offer books on the New York Times best seller list at 50 percent off list prices.