Southwest Hawaii Flights

Southwest Hawaii Stiffens Competition: 11 New Daily Flights Exposed

Lastest news on Southwest schedules and fares. Some routes continue to have great deals for summer. Find out more in today’s post.

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1,796 thoughts on “Southwest Hawaii Stiffens Competition: 11 New Daily Flights Exposed”

  1. If SWA delays any longer, will they have missed their window when starting service to Hawai’i made business sense? The market seems already oversupplied — with so many fare bargains — after United and Hawaiian expanded their footprint. What if the economy becomes more iffy?

  2. Just a little correction… (i)messaging inflight is free of charge. The only entertainment option that comes with a fee is WiFi at $8.00 per device.

  3. Sure wish SW would look into the immense market in the inland empire of southern California. We all hate the 3-4 hour drive to get to LAX in the morning traffic to depart to Honolulu. They would do very well to figure out a Hawaii route from Ontario, CA Airport

    1. The simple realty is ETOPS certification is a serious deal and a big step for SWA.
      Their operation has always been geared to keeping costs down any way they can,
      some of that philosophy runs counter to long haul overwater flying where their is less room
      for cost savings….leasing engines, farming out maintenance work etc. ETOPS is not a slam dunk
      like they apparently thought
      I

  4. While looking at flights from San Jose to Maui for Sept. of 2019, I noticed that Hawaiian is utilizing the A321 instead of the 767 that we’re used to. Is this a permanent arrangement? We love the 767.

  5. Just a quick correction regarding mainland to Hilo flights. Although the post says there is only one weekly flight from the mainland to Hilo, in fact United files daily from LAX to Hilo

  6. It could just be coincidence, but Hawaiian Airlines flight #HA45 from SJC to OGG has always departed (as far as I can remember) at 7:15am. Starting on September 3rd, 2019 the same flight now shows departing 10:30am. Not sure if that has to do with Southwest and their intentions to start Hawaii service. Could one airline bump another for a specific time slot?

  7. I am ‘treating’ my family to a trip from San Diego to Maui next April. I’ve always appreciated SWA for their service, routes and pricing. What makes me nervous is the wait. I can book Alaska or Hawaiin Air now, but at what I believe will end up being a substantially higher fare. But if I wait and SWA doesn’t end up flying to Hawaii, will I be out of luck? I don’t want to wait too long. Of course government red tape is not accurately predictable. My question is simple; what might be the latest SWA will announce Hawaiin destinations, and what is the latest flights might begin?

    1. I am in Jeff B’s position too, with a trip to Maui next May; I have been waiting for the SWA announcement (We will still fly Hawaiian) to drive down the prices for other airlines, but also wonder, how late should I go before caving and booking on Hawaiian?

    1. I would be curious about this as well. 0% chance, 25, 50%? I know Southwest says it depends and that the pundits are saying January. But, Southwest also said specifically that they wouldn’t start flying on Christmas Day. Which leads me to believe that they think that time frame is a real possibility.

  8. We are traveling to Oahu and Maui from Grand Rapids, Mi in February for two weeks. Should we wait for Southwest to start selling tickets or book now through another carrier? Right now tickets are $700 round trip. Thank you for your time, have a great day!

    Robert M.

    1. Hi Robert.

      Sorry for the delay in responding. Probably the best fare you’ll find by waiting is high $600’s. We do expect SWA to be operating by then if you choose to wait. How they will build and price trips from beyond the west coast won’t be known for a while however.

      Aloha.

    2. Southwest won’t offer redeyes, so it’ll be impossible to fly back to Grand Rapids unless they have a 7am flight from Maui/Oahu or you’re willing to spend an overnight layover in California. Additionally, Southwest won’t have non-stop flights from Grand Rapids to any of the Hawaii gateways (San Diego, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento), so you’ll have at minimum two layovers. You may want to wait to see if Southwest forces others to lower fares, but given the likely lack of Southwest options to/from Grand Rapids, you may be better off looking at one-stop options on United, American, or Delta.

      1. Thanks Tom, I’m thinking that I will purchase our tickets no later than cyber Monday. Never know, could find a great price. And yes, I would want to have only one layover.

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