Updated 5/29/20. Fascinating Southwest Hawaii updates in multiple ways. From these changes, it appears Southwest believed Hawaii tourism would restart July 1. Here’s what was announced yesterday. Did Southwest have information on what the state was about to do? Or, were they being proactive in an attempt to move the government off its dime. We have seen that here already with the island mayors creating policies that later forced the governor’s hand.
That came right before Hawaii’s governor indicated his intention to extend the 14-day isolation period beyond June 30. More to follow on that.
Here’s what we learned in seven bullet points below:
1. As of May 28, Southwest Hawaii flights through the holidays (until January 4) became available for booking. Until this announcement, you could only book travel on Southwest through October 31.
2. Hawaii flights have been restored to their schedule, with services to tentatively resume beginning July 1. That is in concert with what the State of Hawaii has indicated, which is that the 14-day isolation period is now scheduled through June 30. We are awaiting updates from the government and expect that you won’t have to wait much longer to know definitively.
3. Southwest will begin increasing interisland flights starting June 7, thus they appear to be indicating their belief or desire that the 14-day isolation on interisland flights end by then. The company will return to a full volume of inter-island services on July 1.
4. Airlines including Southwest are continuing to modify their presumed travel resumption dates. Please check the airline’s website directly for the latest schedules, as this has been changing daily.
5. From now through June 30, the only Southwest Hawaii flights operating are those deemed “essential flights.” Those are mostly comprised of limited services between Oakland/San Jose and Honolulu/Maui plus some inter-island flights.
6. Remember that through June, a mandatory 14-day isolation is required for all arrivals in Hawaii.
7. The plan for the Boeing 737 MAX fleet’s return to schedule has been updated too. See CEO Gary Kelly’s latest on that below.
Updated Southwest Hawaii routes and frequencies:
OAKLAND: Honolulu (2 daily ongoing); Maui (2 daily starting 7/1); Kona (1 daily starting 7/1); Kauai (1 daily starting 7/1)
SAN JOSE: Honolulu (1 daily ongoing); Maui (1 daily starting 7/1); Kona (1 daily starting 7.1); Lihue (1 daily starting 7/1).
SACRAMENTO: Honolulu (1 daily starting 7/1); Maui (1 daily starting 7/1).
SAN DIEGO: Honolulu (1 daily starting 7/1).
HONOLULU: Oakland (2 daily ongoing); San Jose (1 daily starting 7/1) Sacramento (1 daily starting 7/1); San Diego (1 daily starting 7/1); Interisland: Maui, Kona, Lihue, Hilo (increasing starting June 7 to become 4 daily starting 7/1).
MAUI: Oakland (2 daily starting 7/1); San Jose (1 daily starting 7/1); Sacramento (1 daily starting 7/1); Interisland: Honolulu (increasing to 4 daily starting 7/1), Kona (1 daily starting 7/1).
KONA: Oakland (1 daily starting 7/1); San Jose (1 daily starting 7/1); Interisland: Honolulu (increasing to 4 daily starting 7/1); Maui (1 daily starting 7/1).
KAUAI: Oakland (1 daily starting 7/1); San Jose (1 daily starting 7/1); Interisland: Honolulu (increasing to 4 daily starting 7/1).
HILO: Interisland: Honolulu (increasing to 4 daily starting 7/1).
737 MAX return update. Plus, will Southwest Hawaii expansion ever resume?
At this point, Southwest has canceled the return of 737 MAX on their schedule through August 10, which is about to be extended to fall or beyond. Until those planes return, Southwest will be using 737-800 planes for Hawaii flights.
CEO Gary Kelly said to employees recently, “I’m sure this will cause us to have to take the MAX out of the schedule beyond October 1.
Further Southwest Hawaii expansion remains unsure during these turbulent times. It has also been limited by ongoing grounding of their MAX fleet. That problem too will eventually come to an end, and those planes may return to service later this year or early in 2021.
If and when Hawaii expansion resumes, the following is our list of possible expansion cities, in the order of likelihood: Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Burbank, Salt Lake City, Spokane, and Albuquerque.
Updated 5/28/20.
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Hayden says
Do you think southwest will start flying more interisland flights now that the quarantine is lifting between islands
Will K says
Aloha,
Did you notice that starting on 11/1/20, the HNL-SAN route is discontinued? Do you think this is permanent?
Thanks,
Will
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Will.
We’ve also noticed a lot of unexplained changes in Hawaii schedules on multiple airlines. Our take is that is that it is too soon to say which routes will continue and which may be culled. Once things restart we should soon get a better idea.
Aloha.
Amber says
I have SJC to OGG booked in September. I think that’s far enough out but we’ll see.
Anyway, when I check for lower prices I see a ton of unavailable, including the dates I have 9/5-9/12. I haven’t gotten a cancellation yet. Is it really full? I find that hard to believe. I’m wondering what’s happening. Any ideas?
Sonia K says
Middle seats are blocked on all Southwest flights through 9/30 so planes could indeed be full. That’s a lot of seats blocked. Just my thought.
Nancy A says
We flew to Florida 10 days ago and flying back home in 2 days and ALL seats were full. They were not skipping ANY seats and they said most planes weren’t skipping seats anymore.
Lupe says
I have reservations july 11th to Kona one week n one week after that to Kauai I called condo they say to wait not to cancel yet cause quar antine might be lifted also united airlines. Other wise I lose m_ money. Timeshare says they have condo open. Weird since you can’t go anywhere.
Goldie C says
I suspect Southwest’s decision to resume flights July 1st will change based on David Ige’s announcement today that he is going to continue the 14 day quarantine on visitors from the mainland and foreign countries beyond June 30th. Tourism is Hawaii’s lifeblood and he’s destroying Hawaii’s economy because of his ignorance. It’s going to take YEARS for Hawaii to recover and until then the residents are going to continue to suffer.
Thank you for allowing me to express my frustration with Ige’s latest edict.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Goldie.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Jim C says
Interesting in that I just read that the Governor is saying he plans to extend the quarantine to out of state visitors beyond June 30.
Jeff says
Just saw that the governor is going to extend the quarantine into July.
Vicky R says
I’m looking ahead at the Southwest schedule for October and the OGG to SAN non-stop is not showing. Above you mentioned that that flight will start July 1. Are you thinking they may not have published all their considered routes yet? I read your newsletter faithfully, Mahalo for all of your great information!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Vicky.
You are correct. That route now appears to have been removed from their schedule. Thanks for the update and we’ve corrected the information.
Aloha.
charlie c says
Just spent some time on google flights searching nonstop flights to Kauai. By the second week in July there will be at least 10-12+ nonstop flights per day just to Kauai. Southwest does not participate on Google flights so I didn’t include them.
LAX
Hawaiian now has one now but not every day. Same with Delta.
United adds two more per day on July 6th.
American adds 1 per day on July 8 and then quickly goes to 2.
Some days in July have 5 nonstop flights from LAX.
SFO
Currently no nonstop flights
United goes from none to 2 flights per day on July 6th.
SEA
Currently none. Alaska adds 2 on July 1.
Delta adds one on July 2.
3 per day ongoing.
DEN
Currently none from Denver. United resumes this nonstop route on July 6.
PHX
American resumes its Phoenix non stop on Aug 8. With the inclusion of this flight I believe this fully restores flight levels to the pre pan demic level.
Barney G says
Thanks for all your work keeping up with the latest news. We’re scheduled for our annual visit to Kaua’i 1/4 and return in early March. I really hope it happens but the unknown of this disease plus the uptick at states that have opened doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling! I’d love to book our return to OAK on Alaska but I’m not sure that route will survive the competition with SWA and Hawaiian. Any thoughts? thanks again! Enjoy the ocean and the island!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Barney.
Thanks. It is just too soon to say what will happen with those three companies in terms of Hawaii. That given the unique environment we are now in. Stay tuned, as we learn more.
Aloha.
Geraldine S says
We have tickets bought for SMF to Lih 8/10 to 8/26 Can you please advice us what to do. Thank You
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Geraldine.
Not sure what you are asking about. That is operating via Honolulu. Outbound departs 10:15 AM, arriving 4:10 PM. Return is at 10:45 AM, arriving 9:40 PM. If anything else, just let us know.
Aloha.
Tonya B. says
I was waiting until today to see the schedule release for Nov. 1 for SWA and the flights I need are showing indeed. My dilemma–I’d rather fly Alaska Airlines for our Sacramento to Kona trip in early November 2020 (I like the times better and have availability of the $99 companion fare) but I’m not really thinking Alaska is going to be actually flying to neighbor islands by that time so I’d be reduced to mainland to HNL on Alaska and then have to get inter-islands on SWA or HA–in which case I might as well book the Southwest flights to start with for cost savings.
Can you peek into your crystal ball and see if my thinking (e.g. no Alaska flights to neighbor islands by November) is likely? The May 31 deadline for Alaska Air to make flights which are rebookable once at no extra fee is my timeline push right now…
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi again Tonya.
We appreciate your comments. Hard to say how this will play out. The airlines will jockey for repositioning in Hawaii. Both Alaska and Southwest are well set to stay here, although arguably Southwest is even better positioned out of California since they are dominant there. We really can’t call this one yet.
Aloha.
Karen S. says
Don’t forget, you never lose your money when traveling in Southwest. You can always use your funds for later flights!
LM says
I think they extended June the ability to change your flight for Alaska airlines. Double check today.
Mike says
Most airlines flying to Hawaii are offering a free schedule change without fees on tickets purchased before May 31. This policy has been extended a couple of times but I’m concerned that it will not be continued past the May 31 date.
Please, have you heard any hints, rumors or information indicating what will be the change policy going forward in June?
Also, is it possible that the state will release updated quar antine (or hopefully lack of) rules by May 31 in case the airlines do not extend their fee change waivers?
Unfortunately there are no Southwest flights (on their website) for travel from my current mainland city to Kona in early July. Perhaps they just haven’t been added yet.
Thanks for the timely updates. You are my best source of information in the attempt to get back home without house arrest.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Mike.
Thanks for your comments and nice words! We have not heard but are wondering the same thing. We definitely hope that the state will provide a definitive statement soon. But as much as we’d like to say we’ll have an answer, given the disarray here, we just can’t say it will happen in the next 4 days.
Aloha.
Alex says
Very interesting indeed. Govenor Ige 1h ago announced that the traveler quar antine will be extended beyond June 30. as expected. (Continued high case numbers on the mainland states where Hawai’i travelers come from.) He didn’t provide an end date. At the same time, as you reported, some airlines are opening up their schedules July 1st. Awe! Are airlines possibly forced to bring these flights back, even empty, due to government subsidies, airport landing slot terms, or bailout terms? What gives?