Hawaiian Airlines’ passenger traffic rose 3 percent in May as the carrier offered more flights than the year-earlier period.
The state’s largest airline said today it transported 919,030 passengers compared with 892,082 in May 2015. Its load factor, or percentage of seats filled, rose 3.8 percentage points to 84.3 percent.
Hawaiian’s available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, edged up 0.3 percent to 1.51 million from 1.50 million. Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, rose 4.9 percent to 1.27 million from 1.21 million.
American Air rewards big spenders
DALLAS >> American Airlines is following other airlines by basing perks like free flights on how much passengers spend on tickets, not how many miles they fly.
The change, which matches those at Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, starts with flights on Aug. 1 and rewards American’s highest-paying passengers.
Elite-status members of American’s AAdvantage frequent-flier program will earn bonus miles for every dollar they spend.
American signaled late last year that changes were coming, but gave few details until Monday.
AAdvantage is the oldest and biggest major airline loyalty program, with about 100 million members. It started with easy math: Fly one mile, earn one mile.
Today that simplicity is a quaint throwback. Airlines compete fiercely for high-paying customers — they lavish elite travelers with upgraded cabins, lie-flat beds, better food and bigger frequent-flier rewards.
American said most members will earn 5 miles for every dollar they spend on base fares and carrier-imposed fees. That multiple rises to 7, 8 or 11 for elites — gold, platinum and executive-platinum members.
Miles alone will no longer make you elite. Starting Jan. 1, customers will have to hit annual mileage marks and spending minimums, including at least $3,000 for gold and $12,000 for executive-platinum. A fourth level will be added just below executive platinum.
“American is making it clear — if it wasn’t already — the more you spend, the more love you get,” said Brian Kelly, who runs a travel website called ThePointsGuy.com. He said it will be difficult for most travelers to earn elite status on the major U.S. airlines.
After Delta and United announced that they would switch to spending-based rewards in 2015, American responded by giving bonuses to high-fare customers. American officials decided that the promotion wasn’t a dramatic enough change.
Hackers hijack Zuckerberg accounts
NEW YORK >> Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter account was briefly hijacked, as were at least two of his other social media accounts.
Zuckerberg’s Facebook account and password were not compromised, the company said in a statement; his account on Facebook-owned Instagram was also unaffected. Facebook Inc. said Monday morning that none of the company’s systems or accounts were accessed and that Zuckerberg’s affected accounts have since been secured.
A person close to the situation confirmed that Zuckerberg’s LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts also were affected. Officials for both of those social media networks didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Screenshots preserved by the technology website Engadget showed someone with access to his largely dormant Twitter account using it to say Zuckerberg was “in the LinkedIn database” and inviting the social media mogul to get in touch. LinkedIn declined to comment.
It’s not yet clear how the hack happened, although a spate of massive data breaches at companies — along with recent news that a 2012 breach at LinkedIn Corp. was much bigger than previously disclosed — has recently given hackers a wealth of password data to work with. Several high-profile Twitter users have also had their accounts hijacked in recent weeks.
Zuckerberg’s name is synonymous with Facebook, but the billionaire has several accounts on rival social networks, including one registered with Google Inc. None appear very active.
On the Move
Chun Kerr LLP, a Hawaii law firm, has announced the following two new attorneys:
>> Nathaniel “Nat” Higa has extensive experience in taxation and litigation as an attorney and partner, including working in Honolulu law firm Rush Moore LLP.
>> Joseph “Joe” Dane has 25 years of business and litigation experience, including serving as an entrepreneur and an information technology specialist in Hawaii and California.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hawaii Realty has the following new Realtor associates:
>> Kris Choo previously worked at Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties.
>> Daniel K. Suh previously worked at Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties.
>> Matthew Arashiro previously worked at Locations LLC.
