Exleftseat

Hawaiian flew out of ONT but stopped service years ago. Never understand why they pulled out. Flights were always loaded due to large Hawaiian community with huge demand inland.

ucdtim17

ONT would seem a likely choice at some point as HA adds A321s. WN may beat them to the punch though.

spin88

Give how much United had downgraded its product (such as 3-4-3 777 flights to HNL with seats that are .6" narrower than on a 737, and running 737s nearly everywhere else, United is already in the bottom of the barrel. VX flies Airbus equipement with IFE (better seats, wider seats, IFE), Hawaiian runs very nice A330s, and AS is adding an E+ section, and in any event is a better airline.

But what you are missing is that WN is NOT going to be counting on these flights as O/D, rather they will be connecting a lot of passengers. WN has a very large domestic market share. WN has a 19.1 market share, DL is 18.3%, AA is 19.9%, and UA is stuck back at 14.5%. WN passengers also come from markets that other carriers don't serve as well. These flights are designed to connect a lot of people. Think someone ex-BNA, they probably fly WN anyway, and now can stay on line to Hawaii.

What I find interesting about this is the decission to do this with existing equipment, I had understood they were going to wait for the MAX.

bocastephen

I can't understand this either - not just for Hawaiian, but for any airline that can run an aircraft into ONT first thing in the morning, send it to HNL, bring it back in the afternoon, then send it on a redeye back to where it came from.

Not only that, but a small premium could be charged given the savings in time, gas, parking and other hassles anyone east of the 57 freeway would need to deal with going to LAX vs ONT. Flights from ONT pull from a massive catchment stretching from around mid-way between the 605 and 57, up through the High Desert, and down the 15 into Temecula - on the east, the catchment can stretch all the way to Palm Springs assuming you can do a nonstop from ONT to key destinations that would otherwise require 2+ stops from PSP. Last year one of the Chinese airlines was planning nonstop service from ONT, but so far I don't see any updates on that service starting, either.

I could never understand why ONT is so underutilized given the population and businesses that rival that of many large cities with a fully functional and busy airport, so let's hope this is airport #1 on WN's Hawaii list.

Long Train Runnin

ONT-TPE was announced on China Airlines a couple weeks ago.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/2017/09...n-spring-2018/

3Cforme

Given that Southwest hasn't announced routes, frequencies, nor a start date, there isn't much intelligent commentary that can be made regarding market capacity and pricing.

bocastephen

This is interesting - although it's service to Taiwan, not China - but it appears Hainan's planned service to China announced a year ago is either on hold or fell through, which would be unfortunate. Let's hope China Airlines can blaze a trail for a few more entrants to join up - if we get that Hawaii service, it would be ideal.

garykung

+1 My reason is however different.

WN pricing has been similar with others, except for certain routes. Beside - unless other routes, WN's route to Hawaii will cost (labor, hotel, fuel, etc.) So IMHO - there is not much WN can do to start a revolution in the Hawaiian market.

100% Green

Would love for UA to compete on that LAS-HNL leg. Much better connection than LAX or SFO, and would make a fun pit stop before the island hopper :-).

LAXOGG

Curious how difficult it may be for WN to setup inter-island agreement with HA. I would not be surprised to see direct WN flights to OGG and LIH.

aoumd

It will be interesting to see how WN compares to others on price. Even if the fare quoted online is a tie, given that Hawaii is usually a "long enough trip where you gotta check a bag," WN will come out on top.

The rumors that WN is considering inter-island flights (possibly as a "triangle" flight OAK-HNL-OGG-OAK or something like that) are also very interesting; HA's party would be over in terms of charging customers $25 to check a bag for such short hops.

windhund

Clarifying note: any member of HA's FF program can get $15 checked bags on neighbor-island flights:
https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/bagfees

transportprof

Clarifying note to the clarifying note: This $15 rate even works for HA inter-island tickets booked with Mileage Plus Miles. Saved $40 on our last trip to/from using this feature.

writerguyfl

I'm of the belief that ONT's problems were primarily mismanagement by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). For years, LAWA ran both LAX and ONT. Data supports the position that they let ONT flounder in order to boost LAX.

More information on that topic (as well as vehement disagreement) can be found on this FT thread:

Los Angeles to give up control of Ontario International Airport

If you are unfamiliar, ONT is now under local control. Improvements will be slow, but can examples can be seen. One is the China Airlines announcement that Long Train Runnin mentioned. The ONT-specific FT thread for that topic can be found here:

ONT Expands Domestic and International Service

halls120

As badly as UA has slipped, there is simply no way I'm flying an airline that doesn't offer F seats or advance seat selection in Y. We're planning a trip to HI next year, and as long as UA has the nonstop from IAD, that's going to be our first choice.