Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Cash-strapped Island Air, Hawaii's second-largest inter-island carrier, has announced it will halt all service Friday.
Affected passengers have been told to make "alternative arrangements," and to contact their credit card companies for refunds. Those who paid with cash will have to file a claim in bankruptcy court, though such a filing doesn't guarantee a refund.
It always seems they just suddenly shut down. Which was the airline that shut down in the middle of the Merrie Monarch festival several years ago? For that one, we had thousands of folks stranded in Hilo for a couple extra days. At least Island Air didn't have mainland connections so the stranded folks are at least closer to home.
Not sure if maybe the airline worker folks will be able to work for the SouthWest airline that's supposed to start here next year? Seems helpful to the incoming airline to have experienced workers available.
It always seems they just suddenly shut down. Which was the airline that shut down in the middle of the Merrie Monarch festival several years ago? For that one, we had thousands of folks stranded in Hilo for a couple extra days. At least Island Air didn't have mainland connections so the stranded folks are at least closer to home.
This has been in the works for 4 years (the last time they made a profit) - if you can't make money with 8 straight years of record tourism - then you are doing something wrong. Quite frankly, people resist prop planes when a jet is available.
The people who owned the planes started the repossession process awhile - Friday is abrupt because the people who own the planes brought the paperwork on island to get the planes back.
"Quite frankly, people resist prop planes when a jet is available"
People resist flying an airline with a worthless mileage program that doesn't get miles from their Hawaiian Airlines credit card. They were doomed to fail from the beginning because their fares were never low enough to compensate for their lack of an effective loyalty program. Their poor schedules and limited service certainly didn't help.
I don't see a "startup" ever competing successfully against Hawaiian. They will just wait it out and hemorrhage the new entry to death.
An existing airline with a good loyalty program moving into the neighborhood though.... that would be a game changer.
"if you can't make money with 8 straight years of record tourism - then you are doing something wrong"
And don't forget the record low fuel prices the last four years.
Regarding the turbo prop comment, I've enjoyed flying Horizon airlines' turbos in the PNW, mainly because of the lower cruising altitude. Never flew Island Air, so don't know what that experience was like.
It's a shame Hawaiian has a complete monopoly on inter island. Buckle up for some high(er) fares.
The higher fares, if they show up, will only be until Southwest gets here. Then most likely they will go into fare wars again.
Actually, Hawaiian seems to be doing nice things for the Island Air passengers. After all, they didn't have to do anything for them, but they're honoring the Island Air tickets - although only as standby and not a guaranteed seat. But they didn't have to do that at all. It may be some sort of marketing ploy to look good and be the 'local' airline for when SW moves into their territory as well as only giving away what wasn't bought, but they didn't have to do it at all so it's nice of them. Hopefully, they'll be able to hire some of the Island Air folks and if Hawaiian doesn't maybe SouthWest will.
I always like flying the smaller planes, you get to see a whole lot more than on the big planes. It may take an extra fifteen minutes to get between islands, but what's fifteen minutes when you get a fun experience along the way?
The higher fares, if they show up, will only be until Southwest gets here. Then most likely they will go into fare wars again.
Actually, Hawaiian seems to be doing nice things for the Island Air passengers. After all, they didn't have to do anything for them, but they're honoring the Island Air tickets - although only as standby and not a guaranteed seat.
Hawaiian honored Go! tickets also.
It is interesting people think 1) Southwest will definitely fly interisland (they aren't setup with the right kind of plane for short hops) and 2) they will have lower fares. The days of Southwest having low fares are many years behind us.
Personally, I think Alaska will buy Hawaiian at some point. Then it will get interesting
Alaskan at least has those companion fares and one free checked bag if you use their credit card to buy the flight. I wonder how much of their revenue comes from flying folks around and how much of it comes from credit card interest?
I have an Alaskan Air credit card (with miles and companion fare deals), and I have used Hawaiian miles to fly for free. And I would still fly Island air if they were cheaper and had a flight at the right time. I don't care about prop planes for such short flights, it's a little more cramped but no big deal. However, I think they totally go shafted with the bad gates. I guess with the small planes they didn't have a choice, but it just meant extra walking, extra waiting, and extra hassle for passengers, not to mention the chance of getting rained on. And on Oahu, it was extra confusing because you had to go to a different terminal.
I was hoping they would get bigger jets like Mokulele with the Embraers, just to solve the gate problem--but then again, it seems like Hawaiian monopolizes all the inter-island gates--but it didn't help Mokulele either. I don't know how the gates get allocated or auctioned, but it seemed like they didn't have a chance to compete equally. And then they could never have as many flights, so that was less convenient, and it was a downward spiral for them. Still sad to see them go. I had hoped that Ellison would invest what they needed to compete, but I guess it was too much.
I was hoping they would get bigger jets like Mokulele with the Embraers, just to solve the gate problem--but then again, it seems like Hawaiian monopolizes all the inter-island gates--but it didn't help Mokulele either. I don't know how the gates get allocated or auctioned, but it seemed like they didn't have a chance to compete equally. And then they could never have as many flights, so that was less convenient, and it was a downward spiral for them. Still sad to see them go. I had hoped that Ellison would invest what they needed to compete, but I guess it was too much.
Gates are allocated in a couple of ways but it always comes down to money. Obviously Hawaiian has an entire terminal but they pay huge $$$'s for the privilege- just like United gets its own terminal in Chicago or SF or American in Dallas or Delta in Atlanta. You can also pay to use a gate - which is big money compared to the inter island terminal - then you need to staff the gate, get more ground handling, etc. Its not cost effective for a small prop plane operation.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
