Hawaiian Air offers link to Laoag City

Hawaiian Airlines is teaming up with Cebu Pacific Air to offer twice-weekly connecting flights between Manila and Laoag City in the Ilocos Norte province of the Philippines.

The service will begin Nov. 2 and will allow customers to fly round-trip from Honolulu to Laoag City, with one stopover in Manila, and earn HawaiianMiles awards on each flight.

The connecting flight aboard Cebu Pacific Air will complement Hawaiian's Honolulu-Manila service. Cebu Pacific's connecting flights from Manila to Laoag City are offered Mondays and Thursdays, with return flights from Laoag City to Manila offered Tuesdays and Saturdays. All connecting flights provide transfers to Hawaiian's Honolulu-Manila flights.

As part of its service launch, Hawaiian is offering an introductory fare of $35 each way for the connecting flight between Manila and Laoag City.

Because Hawaiian and Cebu Pacific use different systems for booking flights, the new flight connections must be booked and purchased through a travel agent.

BofA loses $2.2B as loan losses rise

CHARLOTTE, N.C. » Bank of America Corp. said yesterday it lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.

The nation's second-largest bank said it wrote down loans on its books by almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its reserves to cover bad loans, bringing its provision for credit losses to $11.7 billion. The bank's total allowance for loan and lease losses now totals $35.83 billion.

Finance arm pulls down GE net

General Electric Co.'s troubled financial unit dragged down third-quarter earnings 44 percent, overshadowing gains in divisions that make power plant turbines and household appliances.

The results from one of the world's largest companies showed the spotty strength of the global economy.

GE's profit fell to $2.4 billion, hurt by sharply lower earnings at its GE Capital arm, which loans money for businesses ranging from credit cards to shopping centers. A year earlier, the company earned $4.3 billion.

GE's overall revenue dropped 20 percent to $37.8 billion.

Industrial output tops expectations

WASHINGTON » Output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose for the third straight month, but some economists say the manufacturing growth that has helped lead the nascent economic recovery may slow as federal stimulus programs are phased out. The Federal Reserve said industrial production rose 0.7 percent last month to beat the 0.2 percent increase that Wall Street economists expected.

On the Move

» Society for Marketing Professional Services Hawaii Chapter received the following awards: Mark Tawara received two Striving for Excellence awards for small chapter and chapter president of the year, and member Howard J. Wolff received two honorable mentions for the national organization's marketing communication awards.

» Women's Fund of Hawaii has appointed Layla Dedrick to the board of directors. She is the owner and chief executive officer of Bella Pietra.

» The 2009-10 Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship was awarded to Daniel A. Kelin II. He is the Honolulu Theatre for Youth director of drama education.