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From Punaweb 06/14/2017:
Alaska (Virgin) may see an opportunity to fill a niche between Hilo and the West Coast, as well as Southwest Airlines, with an announcement for their Hawaii service expected by the end of 2017, flights starting in 2018.
http://www.punaweb.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23649&whichpage=2&SearchTerms=southwest
The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Wondering who will have to give up a gate or two to let Southwest into HNL? I was under the impression that they were all taken.
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Gates at HNL do not formally belong to specific airlines, although certain airlines' flights typically use the same gates over and over. If the airport management can squeeze in more flights somewhere, SWA will be in the house. They always seem to find ways to accommodate new service. A significant interisland presence would present more problem in relation to gate space than a few flights a day from the West Coast.
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Gates in Hilo are empty all day long....
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I fly for work and try to use SouthWest as much as possible. Their rewards program was the best, but they changed it years ago and it's not as good. Still better than others though. That being said, I would echo what was mentioned above; 6 hours on one of their planes would be exhausting.
The other question is how; SW flies the Boeing 737-300, a short to mid-range plane which has a max range of 2600 miles. The flight distance from San Fran to Hilo is 2324 miles and LA to Hilo 2461 miles. Would they be allowed to make that flight with only +/- a few hundred miles to spare in the tank? Strong headwind and it seems like gas mileage would erase a lot of that.
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SW flies the Boeing 737-300, a short to mid-range plane which has a max range of 2600 miles.
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They will not be flying that older version. They just took delivery of their first new, stretched 737 Max 8. Boeing makes a MAX 7, 8, 9, 10. Range is not an issue as the MAX 8 and Southwest is to take delivery of 50 more of them in the next year, phasing out their older 737 300's.
Wouldn't surprise me if they fly it to Honolulu for Wednesday, to show it off.
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Gates in Hilo are empty all day long....
I think there's still slots left from ATA...
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I used that ITO, SNA, SMF triangle often ....wonder if we we see those Aloha routes again
My guess / speculation, is they will concentrate on OGG....
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Interisland is a big ask. HA has shown they can drop the price to $29 one way and still survive.
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Usually (but not always), when entering a new area, Southwest focuses on under-served airports and routes, where they can keep prices the lowest. So for a long time, they served Oakland way more than San Francisco, Burbank more than LAX, etc.
If the same happens here, I would not be surprised if they focused on Hilo, because it does have a ton of empty gates, and there are probably lots of folks who would consider flying to Hilo rather than Kona if they could save $100 in the process.
Leilani Estates, 2011 to Present
