Alaska Air expands Hawaii service

Alaska Airlines said yesterday it is inaugurating three-times-a-week service between San Jose, Calif., and Kahului beginning March 11, and four-times-a-week service between San Jose and Kailua-Kona starting March 12.

The airline also announced it will offer daily flights between Sacramento, Calif., and Maui starting March 26.

Alaska's new service follows this week's announcement that it was launching new service between Oakland, Calif., and Maui and between Oakland and Kona.

The Seattle-based airline, which first began service to Hawaii in October 2007, now dedicates about 11 percent of its capacity to the islands.

Go! passenger count drops 13.6%

Mesa Air Group's go! said a decline in visitors to Hawaii contributed to the interisland carrier transporting fewer passengers in October than a year earlier. The airline saw its passenger count fall 13.6 percent to 54,867 from 63,482.

The 3-year-old carrier also said its load factor, or percentage of seats filled, declined to 65 percent from 70.8 percent following the near-term requirement to accommodate an initial overflow of customers following the merger with Mokulele Airlines.

Revenue passenger miles decreased 17.5 percent to 7.8 million from 9.4 million, and available seat miles shrunk 10.1 percent to 12 million from 13.3 million.

Hawaiian gets top customer rankings

Hawaiian Airlines was again the most punctual airline in the nation in September as 94.1 percent of its flights arrived as scheduled, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The airline also tied for first for the fewest canceled flights and fewest oversales, and had no involuntary denied boardings. In addition, Hawaiian had the third-best performance for fewest mishandled bags and was third in fewest consumer complaints.

Mid Pac finalizes headquarters deal

Mid Pac Petroleum, a Hawaii-based petroleum marketer and distributor, has finalized its transaction for the eighth floor at Alakea Corporate Tower, 1100 Alakea St. in downtown Honolulu. The company will be relocating to its new corporate headquarters from 677 Ala Moana Blvd. in April.

Mobi PCS enhances networks

Mobi PCS has enhanced its 3G CDMA voice and Hele Wireless Broadband networks with the activation of new cell sites in Waipahu and Makaha.

The Waipahu site addition provides enhanced in-building coverage in Waipahu, including Village Park and the Waipahu industrial area. It also strengthens coverage in West Loch residential neighborhoods.

In Makaha the new cell site enhances in-building coverage throughout Makaha Valley, including all residential areas, Makaha Resort & Golf Club and Makaha Valley Country Club. It also improves coverage along Farrington Highway from Pokai Bay to Yokohama Bay.

The new cell sites increase download speeds of Mobi's Hele Wireless Broadband and improve the network's overall capacity throughout the region.

Las Vegas sees gain in visitors

LAS VEGAS » Tourism officials say the number of visitors to Las Vegas increased 4.3 percent in September, marking the first year-over-year monthly increase since May 2008.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said yesterday that more than 3 million people visited Las Vegas during the month, compared with 2.9 million in September 2008.

Convention attendance was up 12.2 percent to more than 401,000, even though there were 95 fewer conventions last month.

For the first nine months of 2009, visitor volume was down 4.7 percent.

The average daily hotel room rate in September was $91.18, down 19 percent from a year ago.

Top shareholder of Gannett sells

Ariel Investments LLC, the largest shareholder in Gannett Co. as of June, sold 37 percent of its stake in the publisher of USA Today and the Honolulu Advertiser.

Ariel said yesterday in a regulatory filing that it had 17.4 million shares in Gannett, or 7.4 percent, as of Oct. 31. As of June 30, Chicago-based Ariel had 27.5 million Gannett shares, or 11.6 percent, according to Bloomberg data.

The stock sold was worth $87.7 million, based on the average share price of $8.69 over the four-month period.

ON THE MOVE

The Hawaii Psychological Association has appointed Melissa Pavlicek and her company, Hawaii Public Policy Advocates, as executive director. HPPA also serves as the “;contract”; executive director for American Organization of Nurse Executives Hawaii and Society for Human Resource Management Hawaii Chapter.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney said James H. Bennett has been awarded Certified Financial Planner certification. He is the financial adviser in the firm's wealth management office.