WN going to Hawaii
#241
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Denver, CO, USA
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Heck, if it's a through flight, they won't mind at all. Stampede to the exit row during deplaning at LAX.
#242
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
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A quote in the airline's March in-flight magazine states "[W]e will begin selling tickets to Hawaii later this year." No claim about operating those flights this year. But also no "maybe" language around beginning to sell them in 2018.
Last edited by darthbimmer; Mar 21, 2018 at 11:34 pm Reason: Correct typo
#243
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold
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I looked into this back in October. It's posted on page 9. Even without red-eye flights, Southwest can get customers from Hawaii back to some parts of the East Coast on a single connection through Las Vegas. [Note: These options were valid when they were posted. I'm not checking to see if these are still valid as of today.]
HNL-LAS: 7am departure, 2:35pm arrival (flight time based on Hawaiian's current nonstop)
Possible Connections to Existing Nonstop Flights:
LAS-BWI: 3:30pm departure, 11:00pm arrival
LAS-TPA: 4:10pm departure, 11:20pm arrival
LAS-PHL: 4:40pm departure, 12:10am arrival
LAS-FLL: 4:45pm departure, 12:20am arrival
LAS-MCO: 5:10pm departure, 12:35am arrival
LAS-PIT: 5:45pm departure, 12:45am arrival
LAS-RDU: 5:45pm departure, 1:00am arrival
HNL-LAS: 7am departure, 2:35pm arrival (flight time based on Hawaiian's current nonstop)
Possible Connections to Existing Nonstop Flights:
LAS-BWI: 3:30pm departure, 11:00pm arrival
LAS-TPA: 4:10pm departure, 11:20pm arrival
LAS-PHL: 4:40pm departure, 12:10am arrival
LAS-FLL: 4:45pm departure, 12:20am arrival
LAS-MCO: 5:10pm departure, 12:35am arrival
LAS-PIT: 5:45pm departure, 12:45am arrival
LAS-RDU: 5:45pm departure, 1:00am arrival
#244
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,878
Hopefully SWA learned its lesson and won't sell flights without required approvals in hand.
#245
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Cockeysville, MD
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#247
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: MCI
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#248
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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#252
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,932
So I wouldn't necessarily read into this announcement that they're not trying for other airports in Hawaii too. Since they didn't announce they were trying for HNL until they actually got the permit, how would we know what else they've already applied for or are about to apply for? They probably won't announce any other plans (beyond the hazy generalities they've already announced) until they've nailed them down.
Meanwhile, I think the vast majority of people from the mainland visit one island of Hawaii at a time, so IMHO it's not the end of the world if Southwest starts out with service only to one or more island directly, but no capability (either their own or codeshared) for inter-island travel. And I agree the codeshare approach is a longshot, given both Southwest's tepid record on codeshares as well as no "obvious" partner in Hawaii. (An "obvious" partner would be an intra-Hawaii-only LCC which does not see Southwest Hawaii-to-mainland service as competition.)
Last edited by sdsearch; Mar 20, 2018 at 2:49 pm
#254
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
It would not surprise me to see a schedule with direct 1-stop flights with two landings in Hawaii with similar on the return.
#255
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 5,813
Southwest has always pushed for high utilization of planes and crew. Adding additional flights within Hawaii would help with that. They could also also start flights away from the coast then contine on to Hawaii, reaching more cities on the mainland.