03-20-2014, 01:29 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Kelena
Mahalo, Obie. So,everyone, wouldn't this be good new for Mokulele, and might that airline then expand? I understand their planes are smaller....and maybe scarier, but checking their fares to Maui, for example, it is cheaper to travel on Mokulele than it is on Hawaiian (although they do not appear to serve the Hilo side at this point).
A couple of random facts bubbling up from this insomnia-soaked head... IIRC:
The 11 seat Cessnas that Mokulele flies have a break-even of only 4 paid fares, so they are ideally suited for all the low volume inter-island hops they do between Kona and Kapalua or Kahului; Waimea-Kohala and Kahului; Kahului and Lanai City or Hana or Molokai and thence on to Oahu; and Kapalua and Oahu. Without those options island hopping would pretty much require connecting through Oahu as a hub.
The Waimea to Kahului route was added last year when Mokulele won some kind of federal contract for the route. Mail, perhaps?
Ohana by Hawaiian (operated by Empire Airlines) does their new twice a day Oahu to to Lanai and three times a day Oahu to Molokai routes in 48 seat ATR-42 twin turboprops, the same plane Island Air flies... but which the Island Air CEO said last September were unreliable, and that they want to replace! Hmmmmmmmm
http://www.eturbonews.com/38104/hawaii-i...-their-ceo
Hawaiian gets the lion's share of the inter-island tourist biz because they can offer it as a codeshare add-on to their mainland-Hawaii tickets. Mokulele seems much more used by locals.
I wouldn't rule out Larry Ellison as a player in all this. He bought Island Air a year ago, with destinations in Oahu, Lanai, Molokai, Lihu, and Molokai... supposedly to ensure that guests at his two hotels in Lanai could continue to get there... then he announced plans to acquire go! and its 5 planes last summer... which deal apparently came unraveled, since they are now folding their tent here. More recently a rumor was floated that Ellison was looking at buying and reviving the Aloha Airlines brand, so maybe that's why the go! deal failed? Or maybe they were failing and that's how they got in talks with him last summer? I dunno, but I don't think Hawaiian Air/Ohana is going to go without competition.