Tech firm STI buys TerraSystems Inc.

Honolulu military contractor Science & Technology International has purchased Manoa remote-sensing services company TerraSystems Inc. for an undisclosed price.

Jonathan Gradie, who founded TerraSystems in 1992, will become a vice president of STI. Gradie had briefly joined STI in 1984 and helped the company shift direction to planetary science. Under his new role at STI, Gradie will help expand remote sensing services, including search and rescue operations and mapping of coral reefs.

With the purchase, STI will take over several federal contracts previously secured by Gradie, including a NASA-sponsored program to develop a lava-flow map of the Mauna Loa volcano, which will be used by the Pacific Disaster Center.

TerraSystems had less than a dozen employees, most of whom will join STI, a spokeswoman said. STI currently has 110 employees.

Northwest Airlines notifies state of cuts

Northwest Airlines has notified the state that it is closing its McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 pilots base at the Honolulu International Airport on Oct. 31, affecting 180 Hawaii-based pilots.

Northwest has said it is cutting 150 jobs because it is retiring three DC-10 planes. About 30 pilots will stay on to fly the company's Boeing 747s. The change is not expected to affect Northwest's service to and from Hawaii.

The move is expected to reduce Northwest's Hawaii base by 38 percent to 200 pilots from 320. The airline first announced the closure in May.

Union Plaza building listed for $3 million

Finance Investment Ltd., one of the Finance Factors companies, is marketing the nine-story downtown Union Plaza office building for $3 million, or about $62.30 a square foot.

Finance Investment bought the 48,154-square-foot building in 1988. The company has hired Sofos Commercial Brokerage Corp. to sell the property in fee simple. Finance Investment also owns two other downtown buildings, the McCandless Building and the Finance Factors Center, but those properties are not on the market.

The building, at 1136 Union Mall, is 80 percent leased and a major tenant is Atlas Insurance Agency.

American adding more nonstop Hawaii routes

American Airlines said today it will add a Los Angeles-Honolulu flight Oct. 1, bringing its service on that route to three flights a day. On Nov. 1, American will add a Los Angeles-Maui nonstop, bringing that service to two flights a day. It will take over TWA's Los Angeles-Kona daily flight Sept. 5.

The new flights will use American's Boeing 757 with its advertised added leg room in coach class. American will continue three nonstop flights a day between the Dallas/Ft. Worth and Honolulu and its daily nonstop Chicago-Honolulu flight. American has Saturday-only service on the Los Angeles-Honolulu and Los Angeles-Maui routes. When all the new services are in place this fall, American will have 12 mainland-Hawaii flights a day.

[Taking Notice]

New Jobs

>> Steve Wendel has been named general manager at the Outrigger Waikiki Shore Resort. Wendel was most recently general manager of the Napili Shores resort condominium on Maui. He was originally employed by Outrigger in 1989.

>> Cizette Sato has been named senior underwriter in the commercial insurance division at Island Insurance Cos. A 15-year veteran of the insurance industry, Sato was a commercial underwriter at CGU (Calif.) before joining Island Insurance.

On the board

>> Brian A. Moriki has been reelected president of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, Hawaii Chapter's board of directors. He is the records management officer for First Hawaiian Bank. Other officers are: Reuben Lum (state Archives), Sally Roggia (state DOE), and Ronald Young (Hawaii Microfilm Services Inc.). Directors are: Rose Chu (Tesoro Hawaii), Shane Suan (ProFile Systems), Carol Silva (state Archives Division) and Winona Kitaoka (Records Management Resources).