BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hawaiian stock up, Mesa Air down
Advertiser Staff
Shares of Hawaiian Holdings Inc. gained another 9.4 percent yesterday, continuing the rally that has lifted the stock 45 percent since Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy on March 20.
Shares of Hawaiian Holdings, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, closed at $6.89 yesterday on the American Stock Exchange after ATA Airlines announced it was shutting down its operations. It was the highest close for Hawaiian Holdings shares since March 18, 2005, when the stock closed at $6.93.
Shares of Mesa Air Group Inc., meanwhile, hit a 52-week low of $1.80 yesterday. Mesa, the parent company of interisland carrier go!, said Tuesday that Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to end a contract-flying agreement with the company due to issues with the number of flights it completed.
NORTHWEST RAISES FARES, SURCHARGES
Northwest Airlines Corp. said yesterday it has raised prices on international flights and will freeze pilot hiring as fuel prices refuse to come down.
It also announced that it would do 5 percent less flying than it had planned this fall. Overall, it expects its flying in 2008 to be flat or down slightly compared with last year.
The nation's fifth-largest airline said the surcharge on flights from Japan to Honolulu and other cities in North America will rise by $20 to $160 beginning May 1.
HORIZON SHUFFLES MANAGEMENT
Horizon Lines, the second largest shipping company serving Hawai'i, yesterday announced senior management changes, including the the promotion of Michael T. Avara to the post of senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Avara, 49, most recently served as vice president of investor relations and treasurer of Horizon Lines.
Avara replaces M. Mark Urbania, who is departing Horizon Lines after four years as the company's CFO.
Horizon also announced yesterday that it has been awarded the Jones Act Carrier of the Year for 2007 by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The award was presented Tuesday during a tour of Horizon Lines' Honolulu terminal by a group from the retailer's logistics management team.
HRPT PROPERTIES TOUTS CFO SPEECH
HRPT Properties Trust, a major owner of industrial space on O'ahu, said the company's chief financial officer will make a presentation at the Credit Suisse 2008 Global Real Estate Conference in New York City on April 10.
The event, set to begin at 5:20 a.m. Hawaiian Standard Time, will be broadcast live over the Internet on the company's Web site, www.hrpreit.com.
John C. Popeo, HRPT's CFO, will make the presentation.
HRPT, based in Newton, Mass., primarily owns office and industrial properties located throughout the United States.
GRANT GOES TO UH MED SCHOOL PROF
Richard Allsopp, an assistant professor and Graduate Program co-chair at the Institute for Biogenesis Research at the University of Hawai'i's John A. Burns School of Medicine, has been selected for a $25,000 research grant by the Tilker Medical Research Foundation.
Allsopp's work involves research on telomerase, a protein conglomerate helping maintain the genetic material in cells.
Allsopp's work will examine how telomerase is regulated in stem cells, something that could aid in developing therapies to fight cancer and address aging, including targeting neuromuscular and degenerative diseases.
