Hawaiian Air passenger traffic rises

Hawaiian Airlines carried more passengers in June than in the year-ago period as it increased its number of flights.

The state’s largest airline said Thursday it transported 736,326 passengers, up 1.1 percent from 728,141 a year ago. Available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, rose 16.3 percent to 1 billion from 869.1 million. However, its load factor, or percentage of seats filled, dipped 1.1 percentage points to 84.8 percent from 85.9 percent.

Hawaiian’s revenue per available seat mile increased 14.8 percent to 857.2 million to 746.6 million.

In a second report, Hawaiian again ranked No. 1 nationally among 16 carriers for on-time performance in May, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. Hawaiian’s flights arrived on schedule 91.4 percent of the time, exceeding the industry average by 14.3 percentage points.

Hawaiian ranked second overall for fewest complaints at 0.41 percent, with three complaints from the more than 737,000 passengers served during the month. It was fourth for mishandled baggage with 1,804 reports, or 2.49 per 1,000 passengers.

PETCO to open Monday in Kaneohe

The newest PETCO store on Oahu, at 46-023 Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe, will open to the public after a 10 a.m. Monday blessing by Kahu William Kaina. The blessing will be followed by the store’s soft opening and a continental breakfast. The store will be open to the public, and pets will be welcome, according to a spokeswoman.

The two-day grand-opening festivities will begin at 8:55 a.m. July 16 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and giveaways for members of PETCO’s membership program, including gift cards and professional pet photography for the first 30 members until 6 p.m. The July 17 events begin at 10 a.m. Pet adoptions will be offered all day each day and will include a coupon booklet.

30-year mortgage rate up to 4.60%

WASHINGTON » Fixed mortgage rates rose this week by the most in four months. The average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 4.60 percent, up from 4.51 percent a week ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday. It hit its lowest level of the year three weeks ago, at 4.49 percent. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.75 percent. It reached its low point of the year two weeks ago, at 3.67 percent.

California to remove 3,800 fleet cars

California Governor Jerry Brown ordered the state to purge 3,800 vehicles from its fleet in a bid to save $11.4 million next year, according to an emailed statement from his office. Brown expects the program to generate $5 million in revenue from auctioning the vehicles.

Carlyle seeks to broaden product line

The private equity giant Carlyle Group is in talks to acquire Energy Capital Partners, a buyout shop focused on investments in power plants and gas pipelines, according to two people briefed on the talks.

Carlyle’s potential acquisition of Energy Capital underscores the relentless drive by the firm to gather more assets and broaden its product line as it gears up for an initial public offering later this year.

Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle invested in Central Pacific Financial Corp. earlier this year and was the majority investor in Hawaiian Telcom before the Hawaii utility filed for bankruptcy in December 2008.

A Carlyle IPO would highlight a three-decade transformation from a small private partnership that bought companies with borrowed money to become one of the world’s most powerful asset-management businesses.

ON THE MOVE

Windward Mall has named Richard Chang as general manager, and he will succeed Jonathan Kim, who retired two weeks ago. Chang served as senior real estate manager for CB Richard Ellis for the past five years as well as senior accountant for Victoria Ward from 2002 to 2006 and business manager of the New Times Los Angeles from 1998 to 2002.

KFVE-TV The Home Team has announced Marche Kawai as senior sales and marketing executive. She was previously director of development for KHET.

Tissue Genesis has announced Robin Kawado as the new executive administrative assistant and investor relations coordinator. Her experience includes working at Young Bros. and Dwyer, Schraff, Myer, Grant and Green, Attorneys at Law.

Special Olympics Hawaii has received a $20,000 grant from the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation. The grant will help coordinate the Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run, which is the annual kickoff event for the Hawaii State Summer Games.