I’m fascinated by developments in the global civil aviation industry, and wanted to share what I’m learning with you. Since I first wrote about China’s commercial aircraft aspirations 1 1/2 years ago, they have greatly accelerated their efforts. China already has an Airbus A-320 assembly line in full operation at Tianjin. This past June that [...]

  There are two hikes I’ll never forget. The first happened 30 years ago when I hiked the Grand Canyon. My second memorable hike occurred last week when I walked the 102 year old Pali trail to Kalaupapa. Kalaupapa is a spiritual place of great beauty and a reminder of tremendous suffering. It’s where Saint [...]

Today is an unusual Hawaii airfare sale day.  Many times readers asking for cheaper airfares from places where we rarely find sales. At most times, the cost to get from these airline spoke cities to the hubs typically make flying to Hawaii prohibitively expensive. That’s not so today. This is a broad sale and currently [...]

Updated December 7:  San Jose is still available on very limited dates using American Airlines.  Sacramento is no longer available. Hawaiian Air, which is celebrating its 80th birthday today, is already corroborating yesterday’s prediction. With Alaska Air moving further into the California to Hawaii market, otherwise largely controlled by Hawaiian Air, we will see great [...]

Today’s announcement from Alaska Airlines is great news for both Hawaii and California’s bay area. Starting in March, the company will offer these new services: Three times a week between San Jose and Maui Four times a week between San Jose and Kona Daily service between Sacramento and Maui This announcement falls right on the [...]

Would you fly a commercial flight with one pilot and a closed cockpit door? We did this weekend with Go! Mokulele between Honolulu and Molokai. While our 9 passenger Cessna had fantastic views, the pilot’s closed door was a concern. I kept wondering how I would know if there was a problem with the pilot [...]

Here’s another very reasonably priced Hawaii airfare, similar in nature to the one we highlighted last Thursday. The advertised price from Phoenix is $155 each way.  You bring the price down to $148 by using a Hawaiian affiliate code. Cost: $316 round trip (all-inclusive) Hawaiian Airlines Dates:  Travel through mid-December, then for about $10 more [...]

While still dropping too slowly for all of us, the price of flying between Los Angeles and Honolulu is at least heading in the right direction again.  See below for available dates (as of this writing).  The advertised price is actually $204 each way.  You can save an additional $10 by using a Hawaiian affiliate [...]

Here’s a great deal at two very nice Kauai resorts that both offer superior locations. If this sounds familiar, that’s because Starwood is repeating an offer they first ran in June. Only this time, it’s valid 7 days a week (with some limitations) through April 25, 2010. Kauai Westin is a property we wrote about [...]

A good deal from United valid clear through next Spring. Stopovers are permitted (see below), which makes it an even better deal. Cost: $556 round trip (all-inclusive) United Airlines Dates:  Travel through early June 2010 Availability: Good except holidays Advance purchase: None Minimum/maximum days: 3/60 Travel days: Monday through Thursday Trans-Pacific Stopovers: 1 permitted in [...]