Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Northwest adds non-Web ticket fee
To the long list of things that used to be free but that airlines now want you to pay for, add walking up to the counter to buy a ticket.Northwest Airlines said yesterday that, starting on Friday, it would charge a $10 fee for issuing a ticket at its airport check-in desks. A fee of $5 fee will be charged on every ticket purchased over the phone from its reservation lines.
The only way to buy a ticket from Northwest without paying an extra fee will be through the airline's Web site. It sells about 16 percent of its tickets that way; 22 percent are bought over the phone, and only about 2 percent in person at airports.
The rest are sold through travel agents, or through travel-booking Web sites like Expedia.com or Travelocity.com.
Northwest said it did not think customers would be inconvenienced. "If you still want free, free is available," said Tim Griffin, the airline's executive vice president for marketing and distribution.
Wal-Mart should buy Daiei, observers say
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, should make a bid for Daiei Inc., a supermarket chain operator that owes creditors $9.1 billion, as a way to expand its business in Japan, shareholders and analysts said.Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart last week hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Group Ltd. to advise on a possible investment in Daiei, which runs 266 supermarkets and general-merchandise stores. Wal-Mart already has 210 outlets in Japan operated by local unit Seiyu Ltd.
"The more concentrated they can be in a market, the more use they can make of their distribution system and purchasing power to deliver low-price products," said Amy Bonkoski, an adviser at Cleveland-based National City Corp.'s private-client group, which manages $26 billion including Wal-Mart shares. Daiei "may be worth more to Wal-Mart than to other potential bidders."
Wal-Mart's international sales in the six months to July 31 rose 19 percent, or almost twice the pace of its U.S. unit, to $25.6 billion.
[Hawaii Inc.]
 |
NEW JOBS
>> CB Richard Ellis has hired Judy Gray as Kauai Village general manager. She previously served as the Macerich Co. marketing vice president. She has over 20 years of experience in the shopping center industry.>> Roberts Hawaii Inc. has appointed John T. Medlock marketing and advertising manager. He previously worked in senior positions at Bates/Lee Advertising and Ogilvy & Mather, Hawaii.
>> Pacific Waste has appointed Isaac Kawamoto operations manager. He will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations for all refuse collections around the island. He previously worked in sales with the Air Liquide American Corp.
>> Hilton Waikoloa Village has appointed Christopher Whaley as Donatoni's restaurant manager. He most recently served as food and beverage manager of the Harbor House Village Resort Hotel in Nantucket, Mass.
>> Cades Schutte LLP has hired Scott T. Miyasato as an associate. He previously served as a law clerk to Judge James S. Burns of the state Intermediate Court of Appeals. He will be assigned to the finance and real estate department.
>> Sheraton Kauai Resort has appointed Angela Vento as general manager. She joined Sheraton in 1996 as group sales director for the Sheraton Maui Resort and later became its hotel manager.
