Hawaiian Airlines gets another new plane
Hawaiian Airlines took delivery Monday in Honolulu of its seventh new Airbus A330-200 as part of a plan to have 22 of the aircraft in operation by 2015.
The A330 was flown nonstop from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France, to Los Angeles on Friday where it underwent final preparations before making its inaugural commercial flight Monday to Honolulu carrying 245 passengers.
Hawaiian plans to use the 294-seat A330 primarily for its daily nonstop service between Sydney and Honolulu. The plane is the second of four new A330s that will join Hawaiian’s fleet during the first half of this year.
Shipping company expands to Hawaii
A North Carolina-based freight service provider opened a service center in Honolulu on Monday as part of an expansion plan and in response to increased business in Hawaii in the past few years.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. opened the facility, its first in Hawaii, at 664 Kakoi St. in Mapunapuna largely to improve direct service between the mainland and Hawaii.
The company primarily arranges less-than-truckload shipments via ground, ocean and air for customers. Other areas of business include supply-chain consulting, container delivery and warehousing services.
Brewer’s profits up on lower finance costs
BRUSSELS, Belgium » The world’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, said Monday its first-quarter profit jumped 75 percent because of lower financing costs and taxes as well as higher beer sales.
Earnings rose to $1.69 billion for January through March, compared with $964 million a year earlier. AB InBev’s chief financial officer, Filipe Dutra, said the company was benefiting from growing profits in countries like Brazil, where the tax rate is lower than in Europe and the U.S. Revenue increased 3.7 percent to $9.33 billion as strong sales in Latin America and Asia offset falling sales in Europe.
Consumer spending sluggish in March
WASHINGTON » Americans increased their spending more slowly in March, suggesting some are worried their paychecks aren’t growing fast enough.
The Commerce Department said Monday that consumer spending increased just 0.3 percent last month after a 0.9 percent gain in February.
Income grew 0.4 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in February. But after-tax income when adjusted for inflation increased just 0.2 percent in March. The gain followed two months of declines.
ON THE MOVE
The New York Life Insurance Co. has hired the following as agents for their Honolulu office:
» William Cha was previously a teller at American Savings Bank.
» Roger Higa was previously a director of development at the Alzheimer’s Association-Aloha Chapter as well as director of development and marketing at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu.
» Jason Konno has 11 years in the cellular phone service industry and had been manager of a Sprint retail outlet since 2004.
The International Association of Insurance Professionals has awarded Katharine M. Nohr the Insurance Professional of the Year Award Region VIII. Nohr is an insurance defense and sports law attorney.
