Interisland tickets offered for $39

Go! Mokulele and Hawaiian Airlines are offering a limited number of $39 one-way interisland tickets for travel tomorrow.

Tickets must be purchased by midnight tonight. The go! Mokulele fare is available both on its website, www.iflygo.com, and over the phone by calling 888-435-9462. The Hawaiian fare is available only on the airline’s website, www.hawaiianairlines.com. Both fares exclude taxes and fees.

The regular lowest one-way interisland fare is $58 before taxes and fees.

Go! Mokulele was first to announce the discounted fare yesterday, saying the offer was in honor of the carrier’s fourth anniversary of service in the islands. Hawaiian Airlines then matched the fare.

Financial author to give seminar

Randy Hammon, author of "The Safe Money System," will be holding a free seminar at 7 tonight at the Ala Moana Hotel on how to build a retirement nest egg and how to make your money work for you in any economic environment.

Hammon, from California, is a former broker. The seminar will address issues on how to save your investments from failures in the Wall Street system, what the four pillars of safe money strategy are, and when to fix your retirement account.

Hawaiian Air passenger traffic off

Hawaiian Airlines’ passenger traffic slipped last month from a year earlier even as the carrier filled a higher percentage of its seats.

Passenger traffic fell 1.4 percent to 685,051 from 694,543 while its load factor, or percentage of seats filled, rose 2.2 percentage points to 85.5 percent from 83.3 percent.

Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, increased 1.6 percent to 693.7 million from 682.6 million while available seat miles, fell 0.9 percent to 811.7 million from 819.5 million.

Gannett sees improved advertising

NEW YORK >> Gannett Co., the biggest U.S. newspaper publisher and the former owner of The Honolulu Advertiser, said yesterday that its second-quarter earnings should hit the high end of Wall Street expectations as demand for advertising improves, especially on TV and online.

Gannett’s newspapers, which include USA Today and more than 80 other dailies, have yet to turn the corner. Gannett Co. Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore told financial analysts yesterday that the publishing segment likely will post another quarter of declining revenue compared with the same period of 2009, albeit a smaller decline than the ones reported last year.

She said publishing ad revenue, which still provides just more than 50 percent of Gannett’s overall revenue, will be down on a percentage basis in the "low to midsingle digits." That compares with an 8 percent decline in the first quarter and an 18 percent decline in the last quarter of 2009.

Walgreen ending CVS relationship

NEW YORK >> Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. said yesterday it will end its relationship with competitor CVS Caremark’s pharmacy benefits management business because of complaints about prices and policies designed to drive customers toward CVS stores.

The decision does not affect current Caremark plans, but if Walgreen stands by its decision, it won’t handle any Caremark-managed prescriptions in about three years.

ON THE MOVE

Robert McConnell has been named general manager of Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. He has more than 20 years of management experience in the hospitality industry, including as night auditor, relief manager, assistant hotel manager, general manager and group manager for various Outrigger properties in Hawaii.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa Board of Regents has re-appointed the following to the Mauna Kea Management Board:

» Herring Kalua has 39 years with the state Department of Transportation and serves as a supervisor for construction and highway maintenance on the island of Hawaii.

» Christian Veillet has worked for Canada France Hawaii Telescope for the past 14 years as a resident astronomer, senior resident astronomer and executive director.

IABC-Hawaii has named Ann Botticelli as its Communicator of the Year. She is vice president for community relations and communications for Kamehameha Schools.

Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home has named Juan Babiak as liaison officer. He has 19 years of management experience working in the Veterans Affairs system in four states.