Well, this just reassures the idea that AQ and HA have a monopoly over the interisland market (there are a few other players but they're very small and have little impact). Until the water vessel comes around, I can see prices soaring for these two companies to make any profit they can on the interisland market. It could be that you could fly interisland for peanuts (well, not quite, but $40 OW or even less if you're waaay older than I), but the rise in fuel costs, maintanence costs and a huge slump in demand from foreign/mainland visitors traveling thru O'ahu and the increase in direct flights from the mainland to neighbor islands has caused AQ and HA to do only one thing that will keep them afloat: raise prices.

With a SWA flight between the desert, there's other options... you could drive. You could catch a bus. With a HNL-OGG flight (one of the most heavily traveled routes in the States), you could swim...

AQ and HA also use the wrong planes for this short hop market. HNL-OGG is a 99 mile flight... Sure, it's more comfortable using 717s and 737s to make this trip... but there are other more economical choices out there.

AQ has tried helping the problem by instating legislation backed cheaper fares of $59 OW only if you're a AQ Pass member and book online, but that presents problems seeing that a large part of Hawai'i's community has no access to the internet. And, of course, there's 5,000 miles for a RT fare when using NW or UA miles (the other carriers have since increased the mileage to 10,000), but many people in the islands also doesn't have that resource.

When it comes down to it, people may gripe and complain, but what really can we do about it? Lower the prices, the interisland airlines will fold -- look at Hawaiian. It's about to be sued by Boeing (or really taken over). Aloha, the privately owned company, also has financial problems but is a little more stable than HA.

It might seem misleading now, given that interisland load factors are high on busy days, but that's because both carriers have drastically cut flights to destinations (e.g., to Hilo where there once was only 12 daily flights and made cheap seats impossible).

The interisland scene can also be seen as a microcosm for the greater Hawai'i economy. Who's to blame for all this? The airlines? The economy? Mainland airlines with direct flights to neighbor islands? Who knows -- probably a combination of forces. But the message is clear: if you need to hop to another neighbor island, you'll have to shovel out the cash. Or else, no can help, brah.

aloha