Hawaiian best in some airline benchmarks
Hawaiian Airlines held the top spot in on-time performance and fewest consumer complaints during June, according to a report Thursday from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The state’s largest carrier earned the No. 1 spot out of 16 of the nation’s largest carriers, with 95.3 percent of its flights arriving as scheduled in June. A flight is considered on time if it arrives less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time.
The national average was 71.8 percent.
Hawaiian Airlines also was first in fewest consumer complaints with just two complaints — the fewest of any airline — out of the 877,636 passengers served in June, representing just 0.23 complaints for every 100,000 passengers.
In addition, Hawaiian Airlines ranked second in the avoidance of flight cancellations with five cancellations, or 0.1 percent, out of 6,339 flights operated in the same month.
In other categories, Hawaiian was third for fewest mishandled-baggage reports with 1.88 per 1,000 passengers and was first in fewest involuntarily bumped passengers with 0.04 out of 10,000 passengers.
5 isle restaurants among most scenic in U.S.
Three Honolulu restaurants and two on Hawaii island offer among the best scenery in America, according to online dining reservations site OpenTable.com.
On Oahu, OpenTable users chose Michel’s at the Colony Surf, The Signature Prime Steak & Seafood atop the Ala Moana Hotel, and Top of Waikiki, at the pinnacle of the Waikiki Business Plaza, while the winning Hawaii island restaurants are ‘Ulu Ocean Grill and Sushi Lounge at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Kaupulehu, and Island Lava Java Bistro in Kailua-Kona. Lava Java also has a location in Waikoloa.
California has 38 restaurants on the list, while Washington has seven, Hawaii is in third place with five and Florida has four.
Results were selected from among reviews by OpenTable users collected between July 1, 2013, and June 30.
Favored cuisines among the 100 top restaurants include American, seafood, Chinese, French, Italian, Peruvian and Polynesian.
THIRD-QUARTER LOSS $216,000
YEAR-EARLIER LOSS $1.2 million
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Barnwell Industries posts a smaller loss
Barnwell Industries Inc. narrowed its loss in its fiscal third quarter due to increases in oil and natural gas prices, the receipt of a $300,000 percentage payment and a $223,000 foreign exchange gain on the repayment of long-term debt.
The Honolulu-based company, whose primary business is oil and gas exploration in Alberta, posted a loss of $216,000, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.2 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue rose 31.4 percent to $6.8 million from $5.2 million.
U.S. mortgage rates start creeping up
WASHINGTON » Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday the nationwide average for a 30-year loan inched up to 4.14 percent from 4.12 percent last week.
The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, rose to 3.27 percent from 3.23 percent last week.
Mortgage rates are below the levels of a year ago. They have fallen in recent weeks after climbing last summer when the Federal Reserve began talking about reducing the monthly bond purchases it was making to keep long-term borrowing rates low.
25% of households scrape by, survey finds
WASHINGTON » A quarter of U.S. households say they’re just getting by financially, according to a survey released Thursday by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed described the first-time report as a snapshot of how Americans perceive their financial and economic well-being.
The survey of about 4,100 households was conducted from Sept. 17 through Oct. 4.
Thirteen percent said they were struggling to get by, and 34 percent reported they were somewhat worse off or much worse off than before the Great Recession hit in 2008.
ON THE MOVE
New West Broadcasting has announced that longtime broadcaster Lyman Medeiros has returned to radio and has taken the helm for "Captain Dave," which runs on B93 (93.1 FM Kona) and B97 (97.1 FM Hilo). He has 30 years of Hawaii island music and broadcasting experience, including playing Hawaiian music and classic rock at KIPA as well as working with air personalities DC and B Free.
Hawaiian Airlines has promoted Avi Mannis to senior vice president from vice president of marketing. He joined the company in 2007 as senior director of transformation then served as vice president of revenue management and schedule planning.
CareResource Hawaii, the home and community health care affiliate of the Queen’s and Kuakini Health Systems, has named Corinne Suzuka as executive director. Suzuka, a registered nurse, has served as an executive director with St. Francis Community Health Services for the past 15 years.