Hawaiian time nice, but so is punctuality

Punctuality — doing something at the agreed-upon time — is an attribute most decent people strive for, and certainly one that travelers well appreciate.

And so we stop to praise Hawaiian Airlines for being the most punctual airline in the nation over the past 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The company provides air service interisland and to the mainland and throughout the Pacific and Asia, and almost 95 percent of the time its planes arrive at their U.S. destinations within 15 minutes of when the company said they would.

We look forward to 10 more years of such performance.

‘Surround sound’ inventor moves on

Audiophiles lost a legendary figure this week: Ray Dolby, whose name was seen on all sorts of audio equipment for years, and who won an Oscar, several Emmys and a Grammy for his contributions to audio technology.

For those who remember the old tape-cassette days, his Dolby NR (noise-reduction) technology helped reduce hissing from the tapes. His Dolby "surround sound" is used in the movies and is common these days in personal computers and home theater equipment.

He won numerous awards, had 50 U.S. patents, and also became a billionaire. Also a philanthropist, he died Thursday at age 80, of acute leukemia. Aloha, Ray Dolby.