Mokulele Air offering $30 standby fare

Mokulele Airlines has introduced a special island hopper standby fare that allows passengers to fly for $30 per segment. The state’s third-largest airline said Thursday it will post daily Facebook and Twitter posts announcing which flights have open seats. To take advantage of the $30-per-segment fare, fliers need to arrive at the check-in counter 30 minutes before the scheduled departure. The standby rate offer is valid through the end of this month.

"It’s a first-come, first-served concept," Moku­lele President and CEO Ron Hansen said. "We have over 100 flights a day, so there are a lot of opportunities for people to stand by and save."

Mokulele Airlines has an 11-plane fleet of nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravan turboprops and operates daily flights from nine airports, including Hono­lulu and Kalaeloa on Oahu; Kapa­lua, Kahu­lui and Hana on Maui; Kona and Wai­mea on Hawaii island; and Hoo­le­hua and Kalau­papa on Molo­kai.

Hawaiian Air second again in punctuality

Hawaiian Airlines, the perennial nationwide leader in on-time performance, relinquished its top spot in February for the third month in a row.

The state’s largest carrier had 82.2 percent of its domestic flights arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time during the month, but that wasn’t as good as Alaska Airlines, which was punctual on 85.1 percent of its flights, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report released Thursday. Delta Air Lines, which had wrested the top spot away from Hawaiian in December and January, was third in February at 78 percent.

The average for all 14 reporting airlines was 72.8 percent.

In other categories, Hawaiian was first for fewest flight cancellations with 0.1 percent out of 5,779 flights; second for fewest consumer complaints with 0.52 per 100,000 passengers; and sixth for fewest mishandled-baggage reports with 2.92 per 1,000 passengers.

Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 11 years.

NextEra accused of not acting in good faith

A nonbinding resolution accusing NextEra Energy Inc. of not acting in good faith as it seeks to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. was adopted by the state House on Thursday as its companion was passed to the Senate.

In both resolutions, lawmakers formally asked the state Public Utilities Commission to protect the public interest when deciding whether to approve the purchase of HEI by Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy. The resolutions said NextEra has not acted transparently in requesting that the PUC deny the majority of local stakeholders the opportunity to be part of the review.

"The utilities vigorously proposed limiting discovery on the merger proceedings to the detriment of broader public transparency and oversight … (and) have aggressively opposed virtually all stakeholder participation in the Public Utilities Commission docket proceeding regarding the proposed takeover," said the resolution.

A date has not been set for when the resolution will be heard by the Senate.

Group supports public-owned Maui utility

The community group I Aloha Molokai said it supports Maui County Mayor Alan Ara­kawa’s decision to look into a public-owned utility.

"As we understand it, the mayor’s proposal would involve purchasing MECO and creating either public utilities or co-ops similar to KIUC on Kauai. IAM would be happy to assist with this effort in any way," I Aloha Molo­kai said.

The best energy solutions for Maui County will be those created locally, IAM said in an announcement.

"We share the mayor’s skepticism as to just exactly how this buyout would benefit Hawaii ratepayers," IAM said. "Our state has struggled for decades to get the HECO companies to upgrade obsolete equipment, lower our outrageously high utility bills and develop a plausible business plan for converting to renewable energy. It is hard to see how a much larger and more powerful monopoly, with no roots in the local community, will produce better results or be any easier to control."

Falling mortgage rates give homebuyers cause to cheer

WASHINGTON » Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates declined this week, approaching historically low levels with the spring home-buying season underway.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.66 percent from 3.70 percent last week. The average rate for a 15-year mortgage, popular for refinancing, fell to 2.93 percent from 2.98 percent last week.

A year ago the average 30-year mortgage rate was 4.34 percent, and the 15-year rate was 3.38 percent. The 30-year average rate reached a record low of 3.35 percent in November and December 2012, when the 15-year rate fell to a record 2.66 percent.

Rates have remained low even though the Federal Reserve in October ended its monthly bond purchases, designed to restrain long-term rates.

ON THE MOVE

Group 70 International has made these additions to its civil engineering division:

» Kahealani Winchester has 11 years’ experience in project coordination and the design and development of construction documents and plans. He was project engineer for Community Planning & Engineering Inc. for four years.

» Richard Santo, who will serve as a civil project manager, was a project manager and project engineer for Community Planning & Engineering Inc. His 27 years of experience include projects with the Far East District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Republic of Korea.

Blue Jay Wireless has named Eric Frederick Hawaii regional manager. He will oversee the company’s distribution, community partnerships and employee management. He previously worked for the United States Veterans Initiative in Hawaii, and has nonprofit-sector experience in aiding youth, veterans and people with disabilities.

Hawaiian Airlines has named Jim Kennedy director of base maintenance. He has 25 years of maintenance, engineering and mechanical experience, serving as vice president of maintenance and engineering at Southern Air and as director of maintenance at DHL Airways.

SHIP AHOY!

Friday’s ship arrivals and departures:

HONOLULU HARBOR