southwest orders 20 etops 737-800

[Bullwinkle]

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/stor...S=13688782

more good travel news, continental and now hints of southwest coming to the islands.

I do hope they do away with the silly boarding setup before they get here

[JerryCarr]

Southwest's order of 20 ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) aircraft is interesting in that the number is far in excess of what they could use to and from Hawaii, indicating that they may be looking at the West Indies, too. In any case, this will probably shake up the existing airlines serving Hawaii and/or lower fares on routes where Southwest competes. (It should be noted, however, that Southwest's fares are no longer always the least expensive in many markets since the legacy carriers have cut costs.) Adding Hawaii as a destination will shore up what many see as Southwest's weak frequent flyer program which offers no "premium" destinations such as resort islands or Europe. It will be interesting to see how this affects Hawaiian Airlines which has the advantage of a generally loyal customer base here, but the disadvantage of no mainland network to feed their system.

[macuu222]

I like the speculation they're tossing around about Alaska Airlines buying out Hawaiian. That would open up Hawaiians lack of a mainland network.

[Bullwinkle]

Alaska could use the the real plum in a prospective buy out - entrance to asia

Hawaii may benefit in much the same way the east coast airports did after the advent of jets opened europe

Hawaiian is loosing touch with its base imho - their call center one of the worst - they need to wake up and smell the roses - buying aircraft overseas and setting up call centers offshore both bad moves

Their song and dance was they could not get boeings in time - southwest bought last month and will get their first ones next year

The 737 has an excellent record - air france still looking for the black boxes.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447

edit = all I want for christmas is the ability to spell - I just did not get that gene......