Many mainland cities left reeling from a pullback in Hawaii flights.
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86 thoughts on “Three Airlines Fast-Chopping Hawaii Routes In Shakeup”
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Many mainland cities left reeling from a pullback in Hawaii flights.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
I have to say that folks really shouldn’t be surprised by the recent route cuts. When SWA and other ‘Discount’ airlines entered the market and ticket prices dropped, the already thin margin that the airlines operate at was cut even thinner – Displacing or reducing established carriers who chose not to compete in the race to the bottom. Now, if there is any disruption in the market, that thin margin quickly disappears and routes become unprofitable. We all like low-prices but in the end, you get what you pay for. I’d much rather pay a bit more for each flight and have more flights available to choose from with a variety of carriers offering more direct origin & destinations cities to choose from. Slightly higher ticket prices equates to a healthier and more robust environment for everyone to operate in.
Why is Alaska airlines eliminating direct flights from San Jose to Maui in January 2024?
Oakland to Kona non stop flights were the best. Loved the Alaska and Hawaiian airlines direct flights.
Southwest has taken over, to bad.
I traveled to the Big Island 14 times. I loved the laid back relatively uncrowded atmosphere, beautiful and varied scenery, and the friendly locals. I have no interest in the other islands, particularly overdeveloped Oahu. I was delighted my favorite domestic carrier (SVA) was going to go there, but was frustrated by the anticompetitive and politically motivated delays in their getting approval and by their later decision to eliminate mainland flights to Kona. I was concerned their low fares would bring a flood of tacky tourists to that serene place, however- like when the tourist cruises docked at Kona Bay. As it is now, I will likely never visit Hawai’i again, and you will have lost a friendly tourist.
I already made the switch, Hawaii does not welcome tourists like it used to be years ago, they will regret all this pricing folks out of a vacation to the islands. People are looking and finding more beautiful vacation places for cheaper and friendlier. The Bahamas, Jamaica, Tahiti plus the cruise ships offer free air on bookings all inclusive and you can see the world not just Hawaii. Check out Viking cruises or Canada tourism it is Awesome!!!! Sorry we do not trust the airlines any longer when you only have a week vacation and need to get back to the mainland for work. Let Hawaii figure out their problems they created they must solve.
Perhaps you mentioned it in an earlier post, but don’t forget what United has done effective Jan. 2023 — they are eliminating their almost daily Hilo-LAX flight…the one flight that could take Hiloites to the mainland. This is going to have a significant impact for those of us on Hilo side as we will now be forced to drive 2 hours to Kona or to fly inter-island to HNL.
Hawaiian Airlines seems to have recently switched out A330-200 service to A321 aircraft from Sacramento to Oahu. Not sure if this is temporary?
Probably that is exactly what happened, not much you can do about it though.
I have commented on this previously. Now that I have had some time to think about the problems I wonder if this isn’t a concerted effort to cut back tourism to Hawaii and is in agreement with the tourism board and island governance. Eventually it will be a win for everyone involved. It’s also a probability that foreseeable decreases can work into this also.
Seems like all the routes to Honolulu are still in tact…there are litterly flights every 30 min from Honolulu to outer islands so the extra transfer is usually only about 30min-1hr; it’s so fast and if your visiting the Hawaiian 🌺 islands is it really that much more of a big deal? Grab a taxi if you have a layover and enjoy a meal or some scenery on Oahu. I live here we’ve got some awesome places! I just worry about how packed the flights were before like shoulder to shoulder now all the routes are disappearing all those people will be shuffled into other routes making them more congested and more difficult to score the cheaper seats as there will be more competition for them as more people need to get on the same flight.
I was scheduled for a flight from MCO to HNL forJanuary 2023 to celebrate my 50 year wedding anniversary. HA canceled flights to and from MCO. I had to change my travel plans to stop in Ca. I am not a happy traveler.
Just merge all those airlines already. Geeez
Just one more comment. It has been mentioned these routes are “boutique” and small margin routes. That may be the case for Sacramento, perhaps San Jose. But what we are experiencing is a dramatic reduction of all non-stop flights out of the entire Bay Area. I’d prefer to fly non-stop out of Oakland but would be satisfied with San Francisco. But that is impossible. On Alaska (where I have my points stored) I must fly out of Seattle. As many have noted, this doesn’t just add a couple of hours to the trip. There is the layover time, risk of cancellations, delays on connecting flights, lost luggage etc etc. If somehow the airlines could at least designate one hub in the SF Bay Area we are a major market.
I’m hurt by the “boutique” characterization of my Sacramento to Maui direct flight. Just kidding. But really, I don’t think it’s an anemic market out of Sac. Clearly, though, there are more profits to made elsewhere.
We are flying from San Jose – SJC to Kona direct at the end of October on Alaska.
It has nothing to do with the popularity of Hawaii, it means that there are other routes that have higher margins and Hawaii has always been a low profit yield destination. The “boutique” routes mentioned above, are point to point. For example, very few people fly Newark to Sacramento to Kauai. But people near Sacramento will use that route, though the airline could make more money flying those people Sacramento to Newark.
Aloha Airlines pioneered those “boutique” routes beginning in 1999, and couldn’t make as much profit as they could flying from Honolulu to Maui. They went out of business in 2008.
Profit Motivation very often will win out.
I would Love to see Hawaiian fly the A330 from Long Beach. Before you say LGB runways are too small, runway 30 is 10,000 feet in length, longer than the 6,998 length at OGG or the 9,800 on runway 08/26 at Hilo.
McDonnell Douglas used to build DC-10″s and stretch DC-8’s in Long Beach! If they had enough concrete for those planes, they have enough for Airbus A-330’s and larger!!!
Not impressed with airlines. Never have been. My luggage always gets lost going to Maui and Kauai. I can bet on it! I told my husband, “pack your toothbrush and shorts in your carry on. We will lose our luggage, it’s normal and happens with every airline going to any place in Hawaii.” Yep, they lost our luggage. My husband was puzzled..I was not a fortune teller, but these airlines are predictable. I don’t buy first class tickets. My opinion means nothing. But, no matter non-stop or layover carry your toothbrush, shorts and pack light otherwise you’ll check that carry on in.
I’ve flown most of the carriers from LAX, Long Beach, and Vegas. Getting home to the Big Island has usually involved a connector in Maui or Honolulu. For me it’s no biggie.
Well, we won’t fly Alaskan ever because of the treatment we received from the ground staff! It is a terrible feeling to know that your connecting flight is leaving as you are landing!! Only to have personnel tell us it isn’t their fault, even though the pilot announced the situation as we were landing.
When we found the proper ticketing, we were told that the next flight could accommodate us only to be told at the gate that we were “low fare” therefore we would have to be on standby, even though we had been assigned seating. We were the last to be boarded, after the deadhead crew. We were flying from Honolulu to Denver.
We have never in our bi-yearly flight to Hawaii on Southwest been treated badly, no matter what we paid for the fare.
Had that happen once on Hawaiian. Had a one hour layover in Honolulu to get home to Hilo. Our flight from LAX was delayed two hours while we waited for a co-pilot to arrive from Houston(stormy weather) so we missed the connector. Hawaiian got us on the first available flight and we literally walked from one plane to the interisland terminal for the flight without a second to spare. They held the plane for us so we could board.
If that was only the industry rule instead of the common exception. Have heard many times about Hawaiian not holding the plane as well as ignorant Attendants, Other complaints. You were one of the fortunate ones.
Rod,
Since we did a Orlando vacation and had a 2hr layover turn into a nightmare 12hr layover, I’ve only done direct flights: Socal, Portland, Vegas…. Next trip this fall was supposed to be HI, so I’m bummed out.