Recently in Hawaii Airline News Category

Hawaiian Airlines has canceled an online travel insurance program. The airline briefly instituted the program for online ticket reservations.

The program on www.hawaiianair.com automatically assessed a $19 charge for insurance when making reservations unless users opted out by clicking on an option that canceled the insurance.

Hawaiian  introduced the program May 5 to streamline the booking process for Mainland-originating customers who Hawaiian said "are increasingly wanting trip insurance to protect against change fees and other restrictions that apply to nonrefundable tickets when plans change."

E-mails began circulating last weekend between people who were troubled by the automatic charge.The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and travel agencies received inquiries about it.

A Hawaiian spokesman said the e-mails were "full of misinformation," but the airline decided to pull the program last Friday because it "wasn't communicated properly" and caused confusion. 

As airlines are increasing their rates to offset rising fuel costs, few expect to see much of a decrease in the number of travelers this summer.

The Air Transport Association is predicting that more than 211 million passengers will travel on domestic carriers between June 1 and Aug. 31. That would represent only a 1.3 percent drop from last summer.

The ATA also says airlines are reducing their carrying capacity amid slower economic growth and rising jet fuel prices. The group says planes will be nearly 85 percent full, and that delays emanating from New York-area airports will remain a problem.

American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines all raised rates by $20 per round-trip last week in the form of a fuel surcharge. The ATA says further fare hikes this summer are "inevitable."

Aloha Airlines has told the United States Bankruptcy Court that it is in discussions to sell all or some of its company.

The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, a little more than two years after emerging from bankruptcy.

Aloha's attorneys said on Friday the firm's passenger services, air cargo and contract services, which include US mail shipments, were for sale.

The carrier said it would continue to fly as long as the court accepts the airline's financial plan to keep operating. The company told the court it had US$3.5 million remaining in cash, but expenses over the next 10 days would take US$2.3 million of that. Judge Lloyd King granted Aloha permission to pay its daily operating costs, such as wages, fuel and utilities.

Yucaipa Cos, led by billionaire investor Ron Burkle, has invested more than US$110 million in Aloha since it emerged from bankruptcy.

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Hawaiian Airlines has filed with the Transportation Dept. for the right to launch a Honolulu-Manila route next March.

In its application, the carrier said it plans to start with four or more weekly flights on 767 aircraft, offering new competition to Philippine Airlines. Hawaiian pointedly noted that Philippine has a monopoly on nonstop service in the market.

The airline also reminded the DOT that both United and Continental have U.S.-Manila route rights that they aren't using.

Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines ranked first and second, respectively, in domestic carrier on-time arrivals for June.

Hawaiian had an on-time arrival percentage of 92 percent, followed by Aloha at 86 percent. Hawaiian and Aloha also led 18 other airlines in on-time arrivals for the first half of 2007, well above third-place finisher Southwest Airlines.

Mesa Airlines, which operates go! in Hawaii, was ranked ninth out of 20 carriers for on-time arrivals in June, and 12th for the January-June period, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation report released Monday.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the worst on-time arrival percentage in June, at 56 percent, while US Airways finished last among all domestic airlines for the first half of 2007, at 63 percent.

For the eighth year in a row, the Oakland Raiders are chartering Hawaiian Airlines to carry the football team to its games.

Hawaiian will provide nonstop air service for Raiders players, coaches, trainers and officials aboard a wide-body Boeing 767 for the team's nine road games.

Hawaiian's "Silver and Black" service -- the team's colors -- feature in-flight service offering extra-large meals, special meal requests, and first-run movies.

In 2006, the Raiders finished last in the AFC West with a record of 2-14, the team's worst record since 1962.

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Airport security screeners are still confiscating about 22,000 lighters each day, but soon they won't have to take them -- and travelers won't have to give them up.

The Transportation Security Administration, in what it called a "common sense, risk-based security decision," is lifting its ban on "common" lighters in carry-on luggage as of Aug. 4.

The TSA will still ban the "torch lighters" that people often use for pipes and cigars. Those lighters have a consistent stream of air-propelled fire with a thin, needle-like flame that is hotter and more intense than the flame on common lighters, and have long been banned as a hazardous material.

Most lighters, however, are of the common butane type.

The response to Go Airline's one-day, $1 sale last week was so overwhelming that it caused the airline's web site to crash.

According to Mesa Air Group, Go's parent company, about 20,000 people visited iflygo.com in the first hour of the sale, and that Sabre, the Web site's booking engine provider, was unable to handle the volume. The Web site was down for several hours while Sabre conducted repairs, the company said.

The $1 fare was Mesa’s way of celebrating Go’s one-year anniversary. The airline had notified its regular customers on Monday of the sale, which was for midweek travel from June 11 through Dec. 15. The carrier, which operates interisland service in Hawaii, made 1,000 one-way tickets available for a buck each, giving online buyers a 12-hour window to purchase the tickets.

To make up for the computer glitch, Go added another 1,000 seats to the sale and extended the booking deadline five hours.

Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines did not match the anniversary fare. The legacy carriers have routinely matched Go's fares since the low-cost carrier launched.

ATA Airlines on Thursday launched two more daily flights to Hawaii. This ramp-up of service will connect the airline to all four major counties of Hawaii.

One of the flights will connect Kahului, Maui, with Las Vegas, while the other, from ATA's main West Coast hub in Oakland, will fly to Lihue four times a week and Kona three times a week.

Indianapolis-based ATA said the new routes give ATA service to more Hawaii airports than any other Mainland airline. United Airlines flies more seats to Hawaii than any other carrier but ATA is the only carrier linking the Mainland to Hilo.

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Virgin CEO Richard Branson spoke at a press conference in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Wednesday. The airline announced that it is ordering 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners which are capable of flying for long distances nonstop. Airline officials say the airplanes will go into service around 2011 and that there is a possibility of a London-Honolulu route.