Island Air offers 20% hospitality discount

Island Air is offering a special 20 percent off fare for flights booked in month of April to hospitality and service industry professionals as part of the airline’s participation in the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Mahalo Month.

"We realize that the success of Hawaii’s tourism industry is due in large part to the service provided by employees sharing the aloha spirit at the hotels, attractions, tour companies and other businesses," Island Air CEO David Pflieger said Wednesday. "Our Mahalo Month fare is just a small way for us to extend our thanks."

Island Air offers nonstop flights between Honolulu and Maui, Kauai and Lanai. Discount flights must be booked by April 30 with travel through May 31.

Bloomberg adds $30M to anti-coal effort

WASHINGTON » Billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday that he is donating an additional $30 million to a Sierra Club initiative working to reduce U.S. use of coal.

The Sierra Club has a goal of replacing half the nation’s coal plants with renewable energy by 2017.

Bloomberg donated $50 million to the program in 2011. The latest donation, along with $20 million from others, will be spent over the next three years. He says that reducing the number of coal plants will save lives and that growth in solar, wind and natural gas can offset any job losses.

Crash findings seen as risky precedent

WASHINGTON » The Germanwings air crash investigation shouldn’t set a precedent for future investigations because it sought to assign blame before the probe was complete, which could jeopardize airline cooperation if it became the practice, the head of a trade association representing the global airline industry said Wednesday.

Airlines and aviation safety regulators around the world have long-established procedures for investigating crashes that put identifying and correcting safety risks ahead of assigning blame, Tony Tyler, the CEO and director general of the International Air Transport Association, told reporters. Investigating with the intent to punish risks a loss of transparency and openness, he said.

Shell move could lead to wave of mergers

LONDON » Oil and gas company Shell has agreed to buy British rival BG Group for $69.7 billion, in a deal that may signal a new wave of mega-mergers.

Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it will pay the equivalent of 13.67 pounds in cash and stock for each share of BG Group, 50 percent more than Tuesday’s closing price. The deal will boost Shell’s oil and gas reserves by 25 percent and give it a bigger presence in the fast-growing liquefied natural gas market, Shell said.

Japan’s economic progress stagnates

TOKYO » Two years after launching a bazooka of ultra-lavish monetary easing, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has made only fitful progress toward the goal of the 2 percent inflation rate he and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said was needed to jolt the world’s No. 3 economy out of its deflationary rut.

Kuroda increased central bank purchases of assets last fall and splashed still more cash on the economy last autumn, but faces mounting pressure to open the taps further. The central bank left that policy unchanged following a meeting that ended Wednesday.

Mylan offers $29B for rival drugmaker

NEW YORK » In a deal that would combine two generic drugmakers that recently left the U.S. for Europe, Mylan says it wants to buy Perrigo for $205 per share, or $28.86 billion.

Shares of both companies climbed to all-time highs on the news. If they combine, Mylan and Perrigo would become one of the world’s largest makers of generic and over-the-counter medicines.

Mylan said the combined company would have had $15.3 billion in revenue in 2014. It said the combined company would be able to grow even more with additional acquisitions.

Strike causes canceled flights in France

PARIS » French air traffic controllers went on strike Wednesday to demand better working and retirement conditions, prompting the cancellation of nearly half of flights across France.

The powerful SNCTA union called the two-day strike, saying the government has refused to open negotiations about matters such as how to better organize their work schedules to account for downtime and more traffic.

The start of the walkout led to the cancellation of 40 percent of flights across France on Wednesday, and the French civil aviation agency called for the cancellation of 50 percent of flights on Thursday due to staffing shortages.

High school teams compete in auto skills

Six teams of high school automotive technology students will face off in the 2015 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition at 10:30 a.m. April 25 at Honolulu Community College.

Mililani High School is fielding its first two-member team of automotive contestants. Other competitors all are from Maui high schools, some of them previous state champions.

The students will repair "deliberately bugged" Ford vehicles. The winning team will receive a trip to the national finals in Dearborn, Mich., where students from across the country will compete for scholarships, automotive equipment and college-level educational opportunities.

Ford and AAA expect to distribute $12 million in scholarships and prizes.

"It’s important that we ensure that future technicians are well-educated to meet the challenges of working in the industry," Avo Asdourian, chairman of the AAA Hawaii Student Auto Skills Competition, said in a statement.

Nearly 14,000 students nationwide took online state qualifying exams to proceed to the states’ hands-on competitions, he said.

The student teams and their instructors (in parentheses):

» King Kekaulike High School, Maui: Shane Fernandez and Justin Jose (Matt Doty); and Noah Borling and Troy Evans (Petar Kovacic).

» Maui High School: Joey Lee and Edgar Pollante (Julio Bayez); and Joseph Burger and David Casayuran (Shannon Rowe).

» Lahainaluna High School: Josiah Miguel and Ravin Ah Puck (Jay Ramos).

» Mililani High School: Dylan Kawada and Brandon Koba­yashi (Curtiss Hinden).

Exotic cars will cruise for a cause

Members of the Pacific Super Car Club will stage a cruise on April 18 in support of the Hawaii Foodbank.

Members with donations of nonperishable food items will assemble at the first parking area at Bellows Air Force Beach Park in Waimanalo beginning at 9:30 a.m.

A 10 a.m. driver’s meeting will precede the 10:15 a.m. cruise to Koko Marina in Hawaii Kai, where donations will be dropped off at the Chevron station.

Last year car clubs delivered about 1,800 pounds of food, according to organizers.

Ship Ahoy!

Thursday’s ship arrivals and departures:

On The Move

» Hawaiian Airlines has promoted Dylan Cabaldon to managing director of strategic procurement and supply chain management. His previous position was senior director of strategic procurement. Cabaldon has more than 20 years of experience in finance, marketing and international business in the fields of information technology, health care, aviation and retail. He joined Hawaiian Air in 2005 as a director of IT compliance.

» Pacxa, an information technology provider, has promoted two senior executives:

— Gordon Bruce has been named chairman and will remain chief executive officer.

— Kelly J. Ueoka will assume the role of president from Bruce. He is the firm’s former executive vice president.

» Olomana Loomis ISC has made these additions to its marketing and multimedia staff:

— Helen Cho is director of integrated strategies. Her experience includes startup tech companies in San Francisco and New York, restaurant management in Beijing and writing for the Economist magazine.

— Britney Unoki is multimedia specialist and graphic design assistant. Her experience includes creative Web content production for the Hawaii Pacific University alumni department and event planning and online media promotion for the Hawaiian Humane Society.