Go! Mokulele's traffic up slightly

Go! Mokulele, the product of a mid-October merger between go! and Mokulele Airlines, saw a slight uptick in passengers in November from a year ago.

The interisland carrier attracted 55,996 passengers versus 55,591 in November 2008. Its load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, rose 4.9 percentage points to 68.8 percent from 63.9 percent.

“;While year-over-year passenger numbers were predictably up following our recent joint venture agreement with Mokulele Airlines, prudent matching of capacity with demand remains a focus for us,”; said go! Vice President Paul Skellon.

Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, slipped 1.3 percent to 8 million from 8.1 million, while available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, dropped 8.3 percent to 11.7 million from 12.7 million.

Central Pacific's stock sinks

The stock of Central Pacific Bank's parent company plunged 15.5 percent, or 18 cents, to 98 cents yesterday in the first day of trading since the bank's announcement after the market closed Friday that it has agreed to a consent order from federal and state regulators requiring it to improve its capital position, asset quality, liquidity and management oversight.

The bank was given 60 days to comply with an order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Hawaii Division of Financial Institutions that mandates the bank develop and adopt a plan to meet and maintain specified capital requirements. As part of that plan, the bank also must include a contingency plan that would include the possible sale or merger of the bank—if directed by regulators—in case Central Pacific cannot comply with the consent order.

Morning news show to add an hour

“;Hawaii News Now: Sunrise”; will expand with an additional hour to 9 a.m. on KFVE-TV beginning Jan. 11.

The extra hour will be titled “;Hawaii News Now: Sunrise at 8”; and will feature fresh content such as a cooking segment with chef and restaurateur Sam Choy in addition to news headlines, weather and statewide traffic coverage. It replaces infomercials that air now on the station and will be streamed online at hawaiinewsnow.com.

“;As we have stated over the past few months, our intent is to provide more local programming than ever before on KFVE,”; said John Fink, general manager, in a statement.

In addition to the extended news show, “;The Bonnie Hunt Show”; will be moved to 9 a.m. from 11 a.m.

West Oahu gets wireless boost

Verizon Wireless has installed a new cell site to extend 3G coverage to East Kapolei neighborhoods and to Kalaeloa, including Barbers Point housing.

Air crew to strike during holiday

LONDON » British Airways' cabin crew will strike over Christmas, their union said yesterday, throwing the plans of thousands of holiday travelers into uncertainty at one of the busiest times of the year.

Strikes are to begin next Tuesday and run until Jan. 2, said Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary for Britain's Unite union. McCluskey said 92.5 percent of workers voted in favor of striking. The struggling carrier has announced sweeping changes as part of its bid to cut costs, including axing 1,700 jobs, freezing pay for current staff and offering lower wages for new employees. The airline has suffered along with the rest of the industry because of lower demand for travel during the global recession.

ON THE MOVE

Clearwire has named Jon Gelman as regional vice president. He has 26 years of telecom industry experience, including as vice president of Wireless at Hawaiian Telcom, Hawaii area general manager at Nextel and director of sales and marketing for GST Telecom Hawaii.

Century 21 All Islands opened a new office in Kailua and named Hillary Sibley as broker in charge. She has many years of real estate experience including being with the company since 2005.

Sheraton Waikiki has named the following:

» Brent Kitsu as front desk manager. He was previously director of front office for the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort & Spa, as well as front service manager and assistant manager at the Kahala Hotel & Resort, sales manager at Imperial Palace Las Vega and meetings connections manager at Hyatt Regency Suites.

» Anderson “;Aki”; Almario as catering/convention services manager. He was previously guest services manager-Aloha Landing for Sheraton Waikiki as well as a uniformed services department employee at Sheraton Princess Kaiulani and senior sales and marketing manager for Park Shore Waikiki.