Pasha will maintain connection to isles
Pasha Hawaii, which ceased interisland service as of Jan. 1, said Thursday it will continue to provide direct port calls every two weeks to Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului and Southern California onboard the 579-foot MV Jean Anne.
The company’s interim license for transporting cargo between islands, issued by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in 2010, expired at the end of last year. Due to a legislative change governing PUC operating authority, a permanent license will not be granted.
"We are pleased to have had the opportunity to offer interisland shipping for our neighbor islands these past few years, and we look forward to continue providing our valued customers with scheduled service to and from the mainland," Pasha General Manager Reggie Maldonado said.
Pasha offers roll-on/roll-off transport between the West Coast and Hawaii for vehicles, yachts, heavy machinery, oversize cargo and containers.
Hawaiian Airlines defends fare increases
The chief executive of Hawaiian Airlines says airfares that have risen for travelers throughout Hawaii are reasonable given rises in fuel costs, government fees and other operating costs. The Garden Island newspaper reported Thursday that CEO Mark Dunkerley says the airline operates on tight profit margins.
"When we make decisions, we have to make them very, very cautiously because it doesn’t take much to take you from … profit-making to loss-making," he said.
Dunkerley told Kauai Chamber of Commerce members that the airline’s profit for an overseas flight with 294 occupied seats is equivalent to airfare for four passengers. He said that’s why the airline stresses customer service — a bad experience could mean a bad time for one of those customers. "We’d have been better off just not flying that day," he said.
Hawaiian set a company record in 2013 with 9.9 million passengers. The company had $41 million in net income for the third quarter of 2013.
Fares for flights to and from neighbor islands to Oahu are up 28 percent since 2004. But the company says gas, housing and college costs have risen more quickly over that time.
State leads nation in equity-rich homes
Hawaii has the highest percentage of equity-rich residential properties in the U.S. at 36 percent, according to RealtyTrac. The state is followed by New York, 33 percent; California, 26 percent; and Maine, Montana and the District of Columbia, 24 percent, according to the U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report for December prepared by RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.
The study found that 9.3 million homes are "deeply underwater," or at least 25 percent less than the combined loans secured by the property.
The most recent "negative equity" peak recorded by RealtyTrac was in May 2012, when 12.8 million, or 29 percent of all homes under mortgage, were deeply underwater.
Work-from-home site lists top employers
The companies most likely to hire for telecommuting jobs in the new year include Xerox, UnitedHealth Group and Dell, according to FlexJobs.com, a website specializing in placing professionals in work-from-home jobs. The remaining companies on the top 10 list are Aetna, American Express, First Data, Humana, Westat, K12 and ADP.
Investment aids EV charging station efforts
Free-to-use electric vehicle charging station provider Volta Industries has received seed-capital investment from Utah-based Epic Ventures. The amount of the investment by Epic, a venture capital firm, in partnership with Hawaii-based Blue Startups, was not disclosed, However, Volta has raised $1.875 million to date.
Volta will use the money to create a charging-station-locating mobile application and will speed up expansion of its charging station network across the mainland. Its first Hawaii installation was at the Capitol in July 2011, and it now has more than 50 free-to-use, advertising-supported charging stations in Hawaii, California and Arizona.
ON THE MOVE
The board of directors of Suisan Group, Suisan Co. and Suisan Properties has announced that Glenn Hashimoto has been named president of Suisan. He is also chief executive officer and has been with the company for 41 years serving as an executive vice president and general manager.
Hawaii Family Dental Centers has appointed John Bower president of operations. He has 20 years of business experience and was previously a CEO for uBoost, an online company. His experience includes serving as a founder and managing director of Sennet Capital and chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Hawaii Biotech Inc.
