IN HAWAII

Feds set deadline for Hawaii airlines ruling

The U.S. Department of Transportation has set Aug. 28 as the deadline for interested parties to comment on the antitrust exemption requested by Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.

The department said it will rule on the request by Oct. 1.

The application filed by the airlines July 31 is "substantially complete," the department said. Hawaiian and Aloha are seeking the right to coordinate capacity on their five main interisland routes to lessen the number of low-load flights.

Norwegian confirms talks with Inouye

Norwegian Cruise Lines confirmed that it has been having discussions with U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye about the role of a foreign shipping line in Hawaii, but said it has no plans to change the Fanning Island itinerary that brings its round-the-island cruises into compliance with the Passenger Services Act.

The old law does not permit foreign ships to carry passengers between American ports unless there is a foreign stop on the way. Fanning, part of the Republic of Kiribati, qualifies. NCL has invested millions of dollars at Fanning to make it a tourist destination and discussions with Inouye's office "have been around options to expand our service in Hawaii rather than to substitute one itinerary for another," NCL said in a news statement.

NCL started island cruises with the Norwegian Star in December and will bring in another ship, the Norwegian Wind, in the fall, to do similar Hawaii-Fanning trips.

Maui spenders biggest on neighbor islands

Visitors to Maui spend more there than they do any other neighbor island, $178 per person a day on average in the first six months of this year, according to a new survey by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Visitors spent $162 a day on Kauai, $151 on the Big Island and $87 on Molokai, the state said. The study is based on surveys of visitors and residents departing from airports during the first six months of this year. Oahu data was not included in the report.

Mainland visitors made up the largest share of those who responded to the survey, the state said. The data does not include interisland air fares.

ON THE MAINLAND

Conseco loss may mean bankruptcy

INDIANAPOLIS >> Conseco Inc. teetered closer to bankruptcy as it announced a $1.3 billion quarterly loss and a federal investigation of its accounting.

The once-high flying insurance and finance company announced the loss yesterday, the same day it suffered the latest in a string of ratings downgrades of its insurance he huge earnings loss to a $2.95 billion writedown to reflect a decrease in the value of its assets, which have been plagued by high loan default rates and the recession.

The collapse of Conseco stock caused shareholders' equity to plunge over six months from more than $4.7 billion to $533 million at the second quarter's end June 30. Its shares -- which traded as high as $58 in early 1998 -- have fallen to about 6 cents apiece.

ImClone files suit against founder

NEW YORK >> Troubled biotech firm ImClone Systems Inc. sued its founder, Sam Waksal, yesterday for $7 million over his conduct during an investigation into possible insider trading that has also targeted Martha Stewart.

ImClone, which is now run by Waksal's brother, filed suit in Manhattan state Supreme Court, charging Waksal lied to ImClone's board of directors when he assured them he would cooperate with the investigation. A spokeswoman for Waksal did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.