WALK FOR CAPITALISM TIPTOES
ACROSS DOWNTOWN HONOLULU

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Turnout was light for Sunday's "Walk for Capitalism" in downtown Honolulu, but organizer John Orendt was pleased with the event. "We got more than three people, three people was the minimum." Five marchers showed up to represent Hawaii in this global demonstration created by Australian radio personality Prodos. Orendt was optimistic that the celebration of individual rights, free trade and private property would become an annual event. He is pictured leading the other participants, from left, Roger Taylor, John Spangler, Larry Bartley and Ken Schoolland.

---

Aloha Airlines receives more help from Feds

Washington >> Aloha Airlines has been granted another $3.3 million in federal aid as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, making for a total of $7.7 million.

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. have received the most money so far in the first two rounds of funding. United got $644 million, including $253.4 million in the second round, the U.S. Department of Transportation said. American received $583 million, with $223.8 million in the second round, while Delta got $529 million, including $201.9 million in the latest distribution. The three are the largest U.S. carriers. Twenty-three airlines received about $1.3 billion in second-round payments so far, and once the latest distribution is complete the total to all carriers will be about $4.25 billion.

Hawaiian Airlines received $18 million in the first round, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, but was not on yesterday's list for second-round financing.

Aloha Air falls to 11th in on-time performance

Aloha Airlines slipped to 11th place for on-time performance in October, out of 12 airlines reporting their arrivals records to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It was a distinct drop for Aloha, the only airline to report voluntarily, which had the best on-time record for seven of 10 months since it started reporting and was in second place for three of those months.

Last month, 79.9 percent of Aloha's interisland and trans-Pacific flights arrived on time.

"We are looking into the delays that we are experiencing" and seeking ways to improve, said Stu Glauberman, an Aloha spokesman.

The best record in the country last month was held by Delta Airlines, with 90.1 percent of its flights arriving on time. At the bottom of the list was Alaska Airlines at 76.4 percent.

Retail sales up during start of holiday season

Retail sales by personal check increased 2.4 percent statewide during the first 10 days of the holiday shopping season, according to a new survey.

TeleCheck Services Inc., a large Houston-based check acceptance company, said that Hawaii saw the largest percentage increase in the western United States during the 10 days ended Sunday.

Nationwide, same-store check transactions were up 2.1 percent during the same span while West Coast states saw an average gain of about 1.6 percent, TeleCheck said.

"Consumer spending continued at a moderate pace during the first 10 days of holiday shopping, despite recent reports of a recession," said William Ford, TeleCheck's Senior Economic Adviser. "A strong, promotional buying climate, which is being sustained by low interest rates, low inflation and declining gasoline prices could help retailers this holiday season, and in turn, help the economy from slipping further."

The TeleCheck Retail Index is based on a year-over-year, same-store comparison of the dollar volume of checks written by consumers at more than 27,000 of TeleCheck's 272,000 subscribing locations. Check transactions account for about one-third of retail spending.

In other news . . .

SAN JOSE, Calif. >> AT&T Corp. has dropped its $307 million bid for the assets of bankrupt ExciteAtHome, but the high-speed Internet provider is getting more money from its biggest remaining cable customers, Cox Communmications and Comcast, to keep running for three more months.