Hawaiian, Korean Air expand alliance

Hawaiian Airlines and Korean Air have expanded their marketing partnership with a new program that allows each carrier’s frequent flier members to earn and redeem mileage credits on either carrier.

Under the new program, members of Hawaiian’s HawaiianMiles and Korean Air’s SKYPASS programs are now able to earn frequent flier miles on all qualified flights operated by each carrier by providing their frequent flier number at the time of booking or when checking in for their flight.

Alaska will fly to Kauai from Bay Area

Alaska Airlines is beginning nonstop service to Kauai this weekend from two cities in the San Francisco Bay Area that will add more than 57,000 seats annually to the island’s tourism-based economy.

The Seattle-based carrier will begin service between San Jose and Lihue on Sunday and between Oakland and Lihue on Monday. San Jose-Lihue flights will be Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and Oakland-Lihue service will be Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Fed rejects BofA dividend plan

NEW YORK >> It was one more blow for Bank of America: The Federal Reserve did not allow the nation’s largest bank to increase its dividends. The decision by the Fed makes Bank of America Corp. the only one of the four largest U.S. banks that wasn’t able to raise its dividend, something shareholders have been clamoring for. The bank had submitted a capital plan in January that included raising its 1-cent per-share dividend later this year.

The Fed’s decision, which B of A disclosed in a regulatory filing yesterday, also raised questions over whether the bank is strong enough to withstand another economic downturn. For CEO Brian Moynihan, the Fed’s rejection was another setback in his 14-month tenure, which has been marked by a sharp increase in lawsuits, mounting losses from credit cards and decreased income from checking accounts.

Stock buybacks doubled in 2010

BOSTON >> America’s biggest corporations more than doubled their repurchases of stock last year in another sign of confidence in the economic recovery.

Standard & Poor’s said yesterday that S&P 500 companies spent $299 billion last year to buy back their shares. That’s up from the $138 billion spent in 2009, when the recession officially ended at midyear.

In the fourth quarter alone, share repurchases jumped 81 percent from a year earlier, to $86 billion.

Despite the surge, S&P said buybacks last year were still just half of their pre-recession level.

Starbucks outlines growth strategy

SEATTLE >> Starbucks Corp. is expanding the products and places it sells to customers and adding extras — like free online access to Marvel Comics in its cafes and single-serve coffee machines in other stores.

The company has been working for some time to move its business beyond its cafes, which took a hit during the recession but have since rebounded. Executives laid out yesterday how the company is putting its strategy into practice.

CEO Howard Schultz said one of Starbucks’ critical steps is expanding its consumer packaged-goods business, which he said could one day rival its retail business in revenue. A key component of that will be increasing single-serve coffee sales in the U.S., an estimated $1.6 billion market. Starbucks says two-thirds of the growth in the U.S. coffee market during the past year has come from the single-serve market.

ON THE MOVE

Aston Hotels & Resorts has named Bridget Oshita as area revenue manager for Aston’s Waikiki condominium properties. Oshita has 34 years of experience on the hotel side of the hospitality industry, including as assistant area reservation manager for Aston from 2003 to 2005 and worked for Norwegian Cruise Line.

Access Information Management has named Rob Alston chief executive officer of Access day-to-day operations. He was previously president of business development and operations.

Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union has announced its board of directors for 2011-2012: Kevin Asano, Ben Dimond, Ann Gima and Darwin Hamamoto. The following also will serve on the 2011-2012 board: Allan Fujimoto, Gary Iwai and Stan Inamasu, whose terms were not up for re-election.

Sheldon Hunt has been appointed vice president of operations for Ocean Thermal Energy Corp. He served 12 years as the primary utility consultant and energy adviser for the U.S. Army in the Pacific Region. He is also a registered professional engineer in the state of Hawaii with more than 20 years’ experience in the utility, energy and environmental sectors.