United Airlines to restore some Hawaii jobs

CHICAGO » Honolulu is one of nine locations where United Airlines said Wednesday it plans to bring back an undisclosed number of airport jobs.

United, which had been considering outsourcing up to 2,000 airport jobs, now says that after talking with union leaders, it will bring back other jobs that had been turned over to contractors.

In a letter to employees Wednesday, Senior Vice President of Airport Operations Jon Roitman said United will complete "insourcing" work at nine large airports early this summer. In addition to Honolulu, the locations are Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; Seattle; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington (Reagan National Airport).

Neither Roitman nor a United spokesman said how many jobs might be added in each location. United has about 87,000 employees.

On Monday, United said it was considering hiring a contractor to provide bag handling and other work currently done by about 2,000 employees at 28 other airports. Roitman said Wednesday the insourcing promise followed a meeting with leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, who represent the affected United employees.

Pop-A-Lock earns industry award

Cathy Walker of Pop-A-Lock of Honolulu has received the American Towman ACE Award for achievement in service.

Awardees were nominated by the nation’s motor clubs and dispatch centers, and were selected according to several criteria involving consistency in response time, written notes of appreciation from customers and other factors.

The annual awards are presented by American Towman Magazine, a trade publication serving emergency road service professionals.

China auto sales slow in 2014

BEIJING » Growth in auto sales in China, the biggest market by number of vehicles sold, slowed last year but reached 19.7 million vehicles as domestic brands lost more market share to foreign competitors.

Sales of passenger vehicles for the full year rose 9.9 percent, down 5.8 percentage points from 2013, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Global automakers are looking to China to drive sales despite declining growth rates as Beijing tries to steer the world’s second-largest economy to more self-sustaining expansion and away from reliance on trade and investment.

Automakers are investing heavily in trying to appeal to Chinese tastes. Global brands have responded to slowing sales growth in major cities by stepping up efforts to sell in towns and the Chinese countryside.

Sales in December rose 16 percent over a year earlier to a monthly record of 2.06 million vehicles, according to CAAM.

Total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, rose 6.9 percent to 23.5 million vehicles, the group said.

GM sets company sales record

DETROIT » General Motors Co. set a company record last year for global sales, but it was outsold by German automaker Volkswagen AG.

Now both companies are waiting to see if Toyota Motor Corp. will retain its global sales crown. Toyota, which is expected to report sales next week, was the world’s top-selling automaker in 2012 and 2013.

GM sold just over 9.92 million cars and trucks in 2014, up 2 percent from the previous year. Sales rose 14 percent in China and 6 percent in North America, but fell 10 percent in Europe — where GM has begun pulling out the Chevrolet brand — and 15 percent in South America, where sales were hurt by currency fluctuations and other issues.

GM fell behind Volkswagen AG, which sold 10.14 million vehicles last year.

Volkswagen also beat GM in sales in 2013. But that year, GM would have won if Volkswagen removed sales of its industrial truck brands, like Scania and MAN. GM doesn’t make heavy industrial trucks.

In 2014, Volkswagen outsold GM by 15,000 vehicles even without its heavy truck sales, which totaled 199,900.

Volkswagen’s sales rose 5 percent in Europe last year and 11 percent in China. They were flat in North America and fell 20 percent in South America.

On The Move

» Lanihau Properties and Palani Ranch Co. has announced the appointment of Jacqueline Awa as controller as of Nov. 1, 2014. She was previously working in the hotel industry as a resort controller, overseeing accounting operations for Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and Mauna Kea Resort Services.

» University of Hawaii at Manoa has appointed Hokulani Aikau as the general education director. Aikau is an associate professor of Native Hawaiian and indigenous politics in the Department of Political Science, College of Social Sciences.

» Servco Pacific has promoted Thor Toma to senior vice president of projects and new initiatives. He has been a member of team Servco since 1990 and was previously a vice president and director of strategic planning for Servco’s automotive operations.

Ship Ahoy!

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