Last week, Hawaiian Airlines announced that they’d be acquiring some new Airbus A330-200 jets for delivery in 2011 to speed up their transition to an Airbus fleet in advance of the A350s that will be delivered in 2017. We can only hope that they’ll still go through with upgrading their existing Boeing planes with those sexy winglets.

Just after announcing that they were opening the checkbook for these new planes, the airline's third quarter earnings were down about 70 percent--but at least they reported a profit. In light of all this news, we wanted to take a look and see if Hawaiian is still the ideal carrier for crossing the Pacific.]]> kjb 2008-11-06T13:45:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/16/5278/08101

Ever heard of a winglet? We thought it might be something you buy at a fast food chicken franchise but apparently it's something that goes on the end of an airplane's wing. Because it reduces drag, it helps reduce fuel consumption. And that is a Very Good Thing, right?

Apparently winglets are standard issue on most new aircraft, but some airlines are so green that they're getting them retro-fitted. Hawaiian Airlines and Air New Zealand are two of the airlines who are loudly and proudly fitting winglets on their Boeing 767s, apparently at great cost now with a view to long-term savings in fuel consumption.

Winglets are something of a miracle fixture, in fact, because they also improve take-off capabilities and reduce engine maintenance costs. So, a little disappointingly, you can't eat winglets, but they're still doing us good.

Related Stories:
· Sexy New Fuel-Saving Winglets for Air NZ [NZ Herald]
· Hawaiian Airlines Orders Blended Winglets [Asia Travel Tips]

[Photo: cbcastro]]]> amandak 2008-09-16T09:00:28-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/11/1/31859/9224

When go! buzzed into the islands with rock-bottom fares, inter-island dogfights kept prices low to the delight of locals and tourists alike. Fares have fallen from an average of nearly $200 round trip to $50-$80 round trip as the cozy duopoly of Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines has given way to a ménage à capitalism.

Before starting operations, go!'s parent company, Mesa Air, considered buying both Hawaiian and Aloha out of bankruptcy, going so far as to examine confidential business documents from the carriers. When Mesa decided to go its own way and launch an all-new airline, Hawaiian got mega-miffed and sued. The court case ended with a judge awarding Hawaiian $80 million in damages.

It's such a hit that go! might be forced to shut down. The big loser in all this? Clearly travelers, as you can expect fares to skyrocket once go! flies off. The next stop for the case is US District Court for an appeal.

Alex Salkever is the editor/founder of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com

Related Stories:
· Mesa to Pay $80M [Star Bulletin]
· Hawaii Travel [Jaunted]
· Hawaii Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: aspengull]]]> ASalkever 2007-11-01T13:00:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/8/29/163330/887

We didn't have to wait too long for Richard Branson to get Virgin America's newest route running: Just weeks after his airline debuted with a JFK-SFO trip, service will start between JFK and LAX today.

But that's not the only new route clogging the perpetually-jammed skies. Other airlines are getting in on the action, too. The latest:
· JetBlue Expanding Fort Lauderdale Routes [JetBlue]
· American Starts DFW-Panama City Service This Winter [CNN Money]
· Delta Taking Mormons Non-Stop to Paris [Delta]
· Skybus Adding Flights for OSU Fans [Skybus]
· Hawaiian Eyeing Expansion to the Philippines [AP, via USA Today]]]> pbb 2007-08-29T17:52:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/9/223147/4692

Money exchanged for goods and services is an established custom in these United States. When we go to a restaurant, for example, we expect to order, receive, consume, and pay for a meal in a timely fashion. Yet airlines seem to think, more and more, that following through on a pre-paid service is optional. A recent CNN story reports that flight delays in 2007 are the worst on record. The article states:

Of the roughly three million flights between January and May, about 73 .6 percent were on time, the government reported, down from 77.4 percent last year. That marks the lowest on-time percentage for the same period since the government began tracking the numbers in 1995.

Part of those delays were due to a sharp increase in the number of canceled flights. During that period, cancellations soared 79 percent, to 75,925, from the same period a year ago.

Hawaiian Airlines did the best job of getting its customers to their destination on time, while US Airways fared the worst. From experience, we think flying US Air is about as masochistic as attending Live Earth in South Africa.

[Photo Credit: Davity Dave] ]]> ced138 2007-07-10T09:53:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/6/12/42818/9354

Holy coconuts! Upstart interisland carrier go! has done it again. On June 11 they offered a surprise one-year anniversary gift to 1,000 lucky travelers -- $1 o/w fares on interisland flights around the islands. Double your pleasure and you get to fly these short-hop routes for a mere $2. Would you like to have your Kahului latte at Starbucks -- or actually fly to Kahului? The latter is the cheaper choice. This compares to $100 o/w fares that were common before go! crashed the market, a shockingly high tariff for a 30-minute hop. Alas, the one-day bonanza crashed servers as a stampede of customers sought to take advantage of the insane deal.

That said, don't expect that go! won't pull another stunt like this again. The aggressive upstart, a subsidiary of Mesa Airlines, has deep pockets compared to rival carriers, incumbents Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Air. And Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein appears to be willing to do whatever it takes to force the other guys off the tarmac. Stay tuned, island hoppers! More fare wars in paradise to come!

Alex Salkever is the editor/founder of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com

[Photo: 808talk]

Related Stories:
· iflygo [Official Site]
· Hawaii Travel [Jaunted]
· Hotels in Hawaii [HotelChatter]]]> ASalkever 2007-06-12T11:31:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/5/29/223524/209

Ever since upstart airline go! entered the interisland market in Hawaii and challenged the incumbent carriers Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Air, the price wars have been fast and furious. Island-hopping travelers and locals who had been ponying up nearly $200 for round trip tix suddenly were paying $60 for the same routes. go! lowered the bar yet again today when it announced it would sell inter-island seats for a mere $9. Natch, these puppies sold out really quickly. But travelers should keep in mind that go! is going for the jugular with Hawaiian and Aloha (neither of which are as well capitalized as go!, a Mesa Airlines subsidiary). You should watch for similarly low, low, brutally low fares to sally forth again.

Alex Salkever is the editor/founder of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com

[Photo: eye of einstein]

Related Stories:
· Interisland fare war ascends to new level [Pacific Business News]
· Hawaii Travel [Jaunted]
· Hotels in Hawaii [HotelChatter] ]]> ASalkever 2007-05-30T11:37:06-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/