American looks abroad
NEW YORK >> American Airlines plans to focus more on international flying and make better use of smaller jets in the U.S. as part of an effort to boost annual revenue by $1 billion within five years. American aims to have 44 percent of its flying on more lucrative overseas flights by 2017, up from 38 percent today.
More flights mean more fliers for Hawaiian
Hawaiian Airlines carried more passengers in April than a year ago as it offered more flights. The largest carrier in Hawaii flew 720,747 people, up 6.2 percent from 678,556.
Available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, jumped 13.2 percent to 1.1 million from 949,354. Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, increased 12.8 percent to 882,489 from 782,255.
Hawaiian’s load factor, or the percentage of seating capacity filled, slipped 0.3 percentage points to 82.1 percent from 82.4 percent.
State receives $703,100 federal job grant
Hawaii is getting $703,100 as its share of a $65.5 million federal grant that provides services in 40 states for those who are unemployed, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday.
"Today’s grant announcement will allow states to provide personalized assessments for recipients of unemployment insurance to help them get back on their feet faster," said Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis.
The funds will be used to conduct in-person assessments at government-run "One-Stop Career Centers," the department said.
This is the eighth year that the department has awarded grants through its "Re-employment and Eligibility Assessment" initiative. Recent evaluations of REA programs have shown that they reduce the length of time unemployment insurance benefits are claimed by helping people find work, the department said.
High oil prices swell Exxon Mobil’s revenue
NEW YORK » Exxon Mobil has bumped Walmart from first place among the Fortune 500 top revenue-generating U.S. companies because of increasing oil prices.
Fortune Magazine released its annual list on Monday.
Oil producers saw some of the biggest revenue increases as a rebellion in Libya and high demand worldwide pushed oil prices higher. The price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil soared 19 percent, and brent crude, which helps set the price of foreign oil varieties, surged 38 percent between 2010 and 2011.
Revenue rose for Exxon Mobil Corp., based in Irving, Texas, even though the company struggled with lower production and high refining costs. It earned $41 billion last year on revenue of $486 billion.
Now at No. 2, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported 4 percent lower earnings in its latest fiscal year with net income of $15.7 billion on revenue of $446.95 billion. Two other petroleum companies — Chevron and ConocoPhillips — ranked just behind Walmart.
Rounding out the top 10 were automaker General Motors Co., industrial and banking giant General Electric Co., Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., mortgage provider Fannie Mae, Ford Motor Co. and technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co.
Consumers stepped up borrowing in March
WASHINGTON » Americans swiped their credit cards more often in March and took out more loans to attend school, the Federal Reserve said Monday. That drove the biggest one-month increase in U.S. consumer borrowing in a decade.
Consumer debt rose by $21.4 billion in March from February. It was the seventh straight monthly gain and the largest since November 2001.
A measure of auto and student loans increased by $16.2 billion. A separate gauge of mostly credit card debt rose $5.2 billion after declining in January and February.
AT&T moves into home security, automation
NEW YORK » AT&T Inc. will start selling home automation and security services nationwide, taking on incumbents led by Tyco International Ltd.’s ADT.
Installations and services will be sold in AT&T stores, starting with a trial this summer in Dallas and Atlanta.
Several of AT&T’s competitors, including cable TV company Comcast Corp. and phone company Verizon Communications Inc., have ventured into the home automation and security field. Dallas-based AT&T is showing more ambition with its stated goal of selling nationwide, rather than sticking to its land-line service territory as Verizon does.
Pepsi formula developer’s heirs sue company
NEW YORK » The heirs of the man who helped develop the formula for Pepsi are suing the soda company over their right to share with the public documents detailing their father’s invention.
The daughter and son of Richard Ritchie say PepsiCo Inc. is interfering with their ability to market or sell the rights of their father’s life story and documents detailing his 1931 soda formula. The suit seeks a declaration that their disclosure of the documents would be protected by First Amendment rights and wouldn’t be considered a trade secret violation.
"The original formulas of iconic beverages and the lore that surrounds their genesis and provenance are of great interest to the public," the suit states.
ON THE MOVE
The Queen’s Medical Center has named Garan K. Ito as director of pathology services, clinical laboratories and bio-repository. He was the manager of pathology services, molecular diagnostics and bio-repository since 2010.
Central Pacific Bank has appointed Kenneth Newman to senior vice president of information security. He has been with the bank since 2009.
Ko, the restaurant at the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui, raised $8,000 in a silent auction during its recent grand opening. The money will go toward students attending the Maui Culinary Academy. The fundraiser also included donations from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts properties in San Jose, Calif; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Vancouver, Wash.; San Francisco; Newport Beach, Calif.; and Hawaii, as well as from partners of the Fairmont Kea Lani.
The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons has awarded the Queen’s Medical Center its “Outstanding Achievement Award” as a result of surveys that were performed in 2011. QMC is one out of 106 currently accredited and newly accredited cancer programs in United States.
