Originally Posted by
HNLbasedFlyer
The biggest drawback to Southwest in my opinion is a lack of a dedicated interisland fleet and no spare planes in Hawaii. So if the mainland flight gets delayed or a mechanical issue comes up you can be looking at significant delays.
Besides that is the gate location and type used in HNL and I believe you have to go through Ag inspection despite flying inter island. Is that still true? I'm pretty sure that the SW gates on Maui are ones that are past the Ag checkpoint on the lower numbered gates. It's minor, but there's no reason to submit to an Ag inspection for an i/i flight other than the gates are co-located with mainland US flights.
I don't fly i/i nearly as much as I used to but when I do it's on HA. The good thing about the SW i/i flights is that they've brought back competition to the i/i market.
-David