Hawaiian Air still No. 1 for punctuality
Hawaiian Airlines remained in its customary No. 1 spot and led 11 other U.S. carriers in on-time performance in September.
The state’s largest carrier reported that its flights arrived on schedule 90.8 percent of the time, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
A flight is considered on time if it arrives no later than 14 minutes past its scheduled arrival time.
Hawaiian also finished first for the fewest flight cancellations with 0.1 percent, or seven out of 6,179 total flights.
In other categories, Hawaiian finished fifth for fewest mishandled-baggage reports with 2.19 per 1,000 passengers and was seventh for fewest consumer complaints with 0.86 per 100,000 passengers, which equated to seven overall.
Hawaiian also ranked third for fewest oversales, or involuntary denied boardings, with 0.30 per 10,000 passengers. This category is reported only on a quarterly basis.
In a separate report, Hawaiian said its passenger traffic rose 4.6 percent in October to 860,260 from 822,281 in the year-earlier month. The percentage of seats filled, or load factor, rose 1.8 percentage points to 84.7 percent from 82.9 percent.
Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, increased 1.4 percent to 1.18 million from 1.17 million. Available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, was virtually flat at 1.4 million miles.
Higher beef costs eat into fast-food chains
NEW YORK » Rising beef prices might not mean the cost of a Whopper is going to skyrocket, but it could mean you’ll be encouraged to order a chicken sandwich instead.
Beef prices have climbed in part because of rising demand overseas and droughts in recent years that have caused livestock producers to shrink their cattle herds. The average year-to-date price for 81 percent lean ground beef is $2.18 per pound, said Kevin Good, an analyst at CattleFax, a ColoDrado-based tracker of the beef industry. That’s up 24 percent from a year ago.
The soaring prices have hurt fast-food restaurants that feature beef as the centerpiece of their menus: Burger King, Wendy’s and McDonald’s — the nation’s three biggest burger chains — all say they’re dealing with higher beef costs.
Email addresses taken in Home Depot hack
NEW YORK » Home Depot said Thursday that hackers accessed its system with a vendor’s username and password.
The Atlanta-based home repair retailer in September disclosed a massive data breach that involved 56 million debit and credit cards between April and September. On Thursday, Home Depot said the hackers also stole 53 million customer email addresses.
The company said the file containing the email addresses did not contain passwords or other sensitive personal information.
The company said customers should be on guard against phishing scams that might trick them into sharing personal information. It is notifying affected customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Home Depot is one of several retailers that have reported large hacks over the past year.
Jobless benefit applications fall by 10,000
WASHINGTON » Fewer people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, adding to signs that the job market should continue to improve.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, declined 2,250 to 279,000, the lowest level in more than 14 years.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs and have retreated 18.5 percent in the past year.
This suggests rising economic confidence among businesses, leading them to keep their workers and potentially look to hire more employees.
The decline in applications has overlapped with stronger hiring this year.
ON THE MOVE
RevoluSun has hired Kawena Uyematsu as community project developer for its Oahu division. She previously served as an independent contractor for the Rising Sun Solar.
The Plaza Assisted Living, The Plaza, has hired Cathleen Langin as resident relations coordinator for The Plaza at Pearl City. Her responsibilities include assisting residents and their families through the admission process as well as overseeing resident relations at the plaza. Langin was previously an account executive at the Hansen Distribution Group and the Kahala Hotel.
Clay Chapman Iwamura Pulice & Nervell has announced the addition of the following attorneys from the firm of Gelber, Gelber & Ingersoll: Don Jeffrey Gelber, Stephen M. Gelber, Jonathan B. Gelber and Joseph A. Dane.
