HONOLULU –- Hawaiian Airlines started 2005 the same way it finished 2004 – as the nation's best airline at filling seats with passengers.
Hawaiian led the airline industry in January with a systemwide load factor of 85.1 percent, improving by 4.8 percentage points year-over-year (see chart below).
“Hawaiian continues to excel with its on-time performance and in-flight service and we're grateful that customers continue to respond with their patronage,” said Trustee Joshua Gotbaum.
After Hawaiian, the top five airlines in load factor for January were JetBlue, 83.7 percent; Spirit, 77.9 percent; Northwest, 76.8 percent; and Continental and United, tied at 76.1 percent, according to statistics published by Aviation Daily. The industry average was 71.7 percent.
Importantly, Hawaiian also showed good improvement with Revenue Passenger Miles (RPMs) – its most vital traffic category – increasing by 11.0 percent year-over-year.
Last year, Hawaiian led all carriers nationwide with an average systemwide load factor of 85.7 percent, while leading the industry in year-to-date load factor for each month of 2004.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, the nation's number one on-time carrier, is recognized as one of the best airlines in America. Readers of two prominent national travel magazines, Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure, have both rated Hawaiian as the top domestic airline serving Hawaii in their most recent rankings, and the fifth best domestic airline overall.
Celebrating its 76th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaii's biggest and longest-serving airline, and the second largest provider of passenger air service between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities than any other airline. Hawaiian also provides approximately 100 daily jet flights among the Hawaiian Islands, as well as service to Australia, American Samoa and Tahiti.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX and PCX: HA). Since the appointment of a bankruptcy trustee in May 2003, Hawaiian Holdings has had no responsibility for the management of Hawaiian Airlines and has had limited access to information concerning the airline. Additional information is available at www.HawaiianAir.com.