HONOLULU – Oct. 2, 2008 - Hawaiian Airlines today welcomed the first of four Boeing 717-200 jets that are being added to its interisland fleet to increase operating efficiency and improve its flight schedule for customers. The other three jets will join the fleet, one per month, in November, December and January, giving Hawaiian a total of 15 B717s for its interisland service.
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, commented, “We are committed to keeping passenger traffic moving between the islands as conveniently as possible and adding these four B717s will allow us to provide our customers with more flight choices.”
By the end of the year, Hawaiian will have added 110 interisland roundtrip flights per week to its current service schedule from Honolulu to the Neighbor Islands, as follows.
- Lihue, Kauai 40 new roundtrip flights per week
- Kahului, Maui 27 new roundtrip flights per week
- Kona, Hawaii 25 new roundtrip flights per week
- Hilo, Hawaii 18 new roundtrip flights per week
Most importantly, the new flights are being added primarily at high-demand times of the day, particularly during the morning and afternoon periods frequented by commuters.
“By scheduling these new daily flights when demand is at its peak, we can provide more service at times when travelers prefer to fly between our islands,” said Dunkerley.
Adding the four B717s will also allow Hawaiian to replace its wide-body Boeing 767-300 currently being used for interisland operations with more efficient B717 flights, and will restore a spare aircraft to both the B717 and B767 fleets.
Hawaiian’s B717 aircraft seats from 118 to 123 passengers, with eight seats in first class and the rest in coach.
About Hawaiian Airlines
The nation’s top-ranked airline for service in the 2007 Airline Quality Ratings, Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past four straight years (2004-2007) and in fewest misplaced bags for the past three years (2005-2007) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian as the top domestic airline serving Hawaii.
Now in its 79th year of continuous service in Hawaii, Hawaiian is the state’s biggest and longestserving airline, as well as the second largest provider of passenger air service between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides approximately 150 daily jet flights among the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com.