Hawaiian adds Los Angeles-Maui flight

Hawaiian Airlines said Monday it will start a new nonstop daily service between Maui and Los Angeles on July 1.

The airline will be using a wide-body, twin-aisle Airbus 330-200 with 294 passenger seats on the route.

"The island of Maui continues to grow as a popular visitor destination and also serves as an ideal transit point for neighbor island and U.S. Mainland travel," said Peter Ingram, Hawaiian Airlines executive vice president and chief commercial officer, in a news release. "We’ve seen tremendous demand from both Southern Cali­for­nia travelers and our kama­aina, and we’re very pleased to offer this new daily non-stop service for them."

The news release added, "Hawaiian Airlines’ Maui hub, which was established in 2012, offers an alternative connecting point for travel to other islands with its expanded neighbor island flight schedule."

Hawaiian Airlines Flight 34 will leave Maui at 3:40 p.m. daily and arrive at 11:55 p.m. at LAX. Flight 33 will leave LAX at 11:15 a.m. and arrive in Maui at 1:45 p.m.

Blue Startups recruiting companies

The Honolulu-based Blue Startups technology accelerator is accepting applications for its third group of high-growth companies to participate in the organization’s spring program.

Application forms are available online at www.blue­start­ups.com/apply. The deadline to apply is Feb. 1, and the program runs from March 17 through June 6. The program is accepting 10 companies for its spring program.

Blue Startups, founded by Henk Rogers of Blue Planet Software, targets companies with high growth potential from Hawaii and around the world. Each company is given $20,000 in upfront funding with the possibility of up to $50,000 in follow-on funding upon completion of the program. Participants also are provided with mentors.

The Spring Blue Startups program culminates in a new regional investor event called East Meets West Demo Day, which aims to be a large event attracting deals and investors from major regional economies of Asia including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Blue Startups, founded in 2012, has invested in 15 companies that have raised more than $3 million in follow-on funding.

CPB Foundation gives $476,182 in grants

Central Pacific Bank Foundation awarded $476,182 in grants in 2013, the foundation said Monday in a news release.

The grant beneficiaries included Aloha Harvest, Aloha United Way, ARC of Hilo, Bobby Benson Center, Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii, Damien Memorial School, Easter Seals Hawaii, Go for Broke National Education Center, Hawaii 3Rs, Hawaii Academy of Science, Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaii Council on Economic Education, Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council, Hawaii State Science Olympiad, Hilo Medical Center Foundation, Hospice of Hilo, Kawaiahao Church School, Kua­kini Foundation, Maui Food Bank, Maui Preparatory Academy, P.A.R.E.N.T.S, Pacific Buddhist Academy, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Queen’s Medical Center Foundation, Special Olympics Hawaii Inc., St. Ann’s Model School, UH Foundation and the University of Hawaii College Opportunities Program.

"We are pleased to support organizations that strengthen our local communities," said Denis Isono, CPB Foundation president.

The Central Pacific Bank Foundation said its support focuses on education and community development.

Demand for aircraft boosts factory orders

WASHINGTON » U.S. factory orders climbed in November, led by a surge in aircraft demand. And businesses stepped up spending on machinery, computers and other long-lasting goods, a sign of investment that could fuel economic growth.

Factory orders rose 1.8 percent in November, the Commerce Department said Monday. That follows a 0.5 percent decrease in October. Orders received by manufacturers totaled a seasonally adjusted $497.8 billion in November, the highest level on records dating to 1992. Orders have increased 2.5 percent over the past 12 months.

Nonprofit competition

Chaminade University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Program and the American Savings Bank are hosting a Business Plan Competition with cash prizes for nonprofit organizations.

For more information, see www.chaminade.edu/hogan or email Ann Lujan Kishi at alujan@chaminade.edu.

Delta retires oldest planes in its U.S. fleet

MINNEAPOLIS » Delta Air Lines is retiring its last DC-9s, the oldest passenger plane in the fleet of the big U.S. airlines.

Delta operated the final passenger flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Monday evening.

McDonnell Douglas delivered the first DC-9s in 1965 and eventually built 976 of them. The plane was noteworthy at the time because it was small enough to fly to airports in smaller cities that had previously been served by propeller-driven planes. Its low-to-the-ground profile put its cargo door at about waist height, so ground crews at smaller airports could load it without special equipment.

The plane flew for Delta, Continental and several smaller regional airlines. The one flown on the final scheduled flight Monday was built in 1978 and went to North Central Airlines. Its fate after that mirrors the merger wave that rolled through the whole airline industry. A combination of North Central and other airlines formed Republic Airlines, which merged with Northwest Airlines in the 1980s. Delta bought Northwest in 2008.

Most airlines retired the DC-9s by the 1990s. But instead of retiring them, Northwest in 1995 refurbished their interiors to squeeze more flying out of them. Federal rules don’t limit how many years a plane can fly, only how many takeoffs and landings. As long as it stayed under those limits, the DC-9s could keep flying.

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