Hawaiian Airlines To Introduce First Class On Interisland Flights

HONOLULU, January 15, 1999 - Having developed an international reputation for excellence in First Class service on its long-haul flights, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. (ASE and PCX: HA) will soon begin offering First Class service on its award-winning Hawaii interisland flights.

The introduction of First Class service on its interisland flights completes a popular product line for Hawaiian. It allows the airline to offer a consistent experience to its First Class transpacific customers connecting to its neighbor island destinations, as well as the growing number of connecting passengers from partner airlines American and Northwest and other major carriers serving Hawaii.

Paul J. Casey, Hawaiian Airlines president and chief executive officer, said, "We have a World Class, award-winning First Class product on our transpacific flights, and this change will allow us to offer a higher level of service uniformly across our entire route system. It will also create a new travel option and upgrade opportunities for our interisland business travelers and frequent flyers."

The change will also give Hawaiian new revenue opportunities, according to John B. Happ, Hawaiian's senior vice president for marketing and sales.

"The addition of First Class on interisland flights allows us to better penetrate high-yield transpacific markets, not only with our own mainland-Hawaii flights, but those of other carriers as well. The added benefit for our local customers is the availability of a whole new level of service and added value to membership in our HawaiianMiles frequent flyer program," Happ said.

Hawaiian's current fleet of standardized DC-9-50 aircraft is equipped with a 139-seat Coach-only configuration. The new configuration will consist of eight seats in First Class and 125 in Coach on all aircraft.

The company's acquisition last month of two additional DC-9-50 aircraft will help it accomplish the interisland fleet reconfiguration with time and cost efficiency. The new additions will arrive in the new configuration; work to standardize the rest of the fleet during normal maintenance checks is expected to be complete in April.

The expansion of Hawaiian's DC-9 fleet to15 aircraft also allows the company to add First Class sections to its entire interisland fleet with a net gain in the total number of Coach seats from its previous 13-aircraft fleet.

The company also recently acquired two McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 widebody aircraft to expand its Transpacific service in March with new daily nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Maui, with continuing service to Kona three days a week. The two DC-10-30s join Hawaiian's fleet of ten DC-10-10 aircraft.

Hawaiian Airlines has embarked on its 70th year of serving Hawaii. The airline began Hawaii's first scheduled airline service on November 11, 1929.

Today, Hawaiian Airlines is Hawaii's largest airline and the nation's 12th largest carrier. The company's all-jet fleet provides award-winning service on more than 150 flights daily among the islands of Hawaii and 12 flights a day between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. The airline's South Pacific service links Honolulu to American Samoa and Tahiti.