IN HAWAII

Search panel picked for travel school dean

A search committee has been appointed to seek a dean for the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management, to replace Dean Emeritus Chuck Gee.

Committee members from UH include Chairman Lawrence Foster, Laurence Jacobs, Misty Johanson, Juanita Liu, Dirk Soma, Byung-Wook Wie, Harold Yokouchi and Pauline Sheldon, who is the TIM school's interim dean. Members from the private sector include Ren Hirose, John Brogan, Hans Strasser, Barbara Tanabe, Robert Zoller and Rick Egged. The committee also has one TIM student, Carlos P. Sullivan.

Boston executive search firm Isaacson Miller has been retained to help in the search.

UH has received 17 applications so far, following a Monday deadline for submissions, Sheldon said yesterday.

Wall Street takes note of CPB stock

Central Pacific Bank parent CPB Inc., which in July attracted analyst attention on Wall Street for the first time, received additional following today when Joe Morford of RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage of the company with an "outperform" rating.

Clint Arnoldus, CPB's chairman, chief executive officer and president, said earlier this year that he was going to try to improve shareholder value by increasing the bank's exposure. On July 8, Jeff Davis of Midwest Research started coverage of the company with a "buy" rating.

RBC Capital's Morford also covers Bank of Hawaii Corp., which he rates "underperform."

CPB's stock, which fell 35 cents today to $44.50, is up 51.3 percent this year and is the top performer in the Bloomberg Honolulu Star-Bulletin index.

Travel Agents group joins tourism council

The American Society of Travel Agents has joined the membership of the International Council of Tourism Partners, which was set up in May to promote peace through travel.

The council said it will work with ASTA during its 2002 World Travel Congress, to be held at the Hawaii Convention Center in November. More information about the council can be found at www.tourismpartners.org on the Web.

ON THE MAINLAND

UPS and mechanics reach agreement

LOUISVILLE, Ky. >> After more than a year of negotiating, UPS and its aircraft mechanics struck a tentative contract agreement yesterday that the company said makes the mechanics the highest paid in the industry.

The five-year contract would be retroactive to Aug. 1, 2001 and remain in effect until Nov. 1, 2006. It covers 1,140 aircraft mechanics, technicians, utility workers and maintenance controllers at UPS Airlines. Teamster Local 2727, which represents the aircraft mechanics, must still vote on the deal.

In the contract's final year, some aircraft mechanics would earn the top rate of $43 per hour, Giuffre said. The contract also includes enhancements to pension plans and health benefits, he said.

United CEO seeking 2-week labor extension

CHICAGO >> United Airlines' new chief executive is waiting to see unions' proposal for a financial recovery plan before deciding whether a Monday deadline for reaching labor agreements should be pushed back, a spokesman said.

Glenn Tilton said shortly after taking over the ailing carrier's top job last week that he might seek an extension to the Sept. 16 deadline imposed by his predecessor. But United spokesman Joe Hopkins said a final decision is pending.

"The (union leaders') coalition is working hard on a proposal that we need to review before we update our application," he said.