HONOLULU – December 24, 2012 - Hawaiian Airlines today announced that Hadden Watt will lead the company’s effort to introduce turboprop air service to Moloka‘i and Lana‘i in 2013. Watt was named Managing Director – Turboprop Operations, effective December 15.
Watt was instrumental in developing the business case for the new turboprop service in his previous role as Senior Director of Strategy and Transformation.
As part of his new role, Watt will oversee operations of the new service by Idaho-based Empire Airlines, which has signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to maintain and fly ATR 42 twin-turboprop planes owned by Airline Contract Maintenance and Equipment, Inc., a sister company of Hawaiian Airlines.
Empire will be recruiting locally for pilots, cabin crew and mechanics starting in the first half of 2013. Established in 1977, Empire operates more than 120 scheduled and charter cargo flights each day in 18 U.S. states and Canada.
Hawaiian Airlines will be responsible for marketing and scheduling the new service. The name and branding of the new entity will be unveiled in early 2013.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past eight years (2004-2011) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the highest of all domestic airlines serving Hawai‘i.
Now in its 84th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawai‘i’s biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service from its primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawai‘i from more U.S. gateway cities (11) than any other airline, along with service from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. New nonstop service will begin between Honolulu and Auckland, New Zealand in March 2013 and Taipei, Taiwan in July 2013. Hawaiian also provides approximately 170 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow updates on Twitter about Hawaiian (@HawaiianAir) and its special fare offers (@HawaiianFares), and become a fan on its Facebook page (Hawaiian Airlines).
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