Southwest Airlines heads for Hawaii, but it won’t be a vacation. Once Southwest Airlines starts flying to Hawaii next year, it may well add a compelling wrinkle to its schedule: flights between the islands. Southwest Airlines is deciding whether to include some in-state travel along with its trans-Pacific routes, which the company plans to offer starting next year. Andrew Watterson, the Southwest Airlines executive who oversees revenue and is in charge of cracking the Hawaii nut financially, worked at Hawaiian for three years and knows the market well.
Here’s the Bloomberg article that explains it all. Having lived in Hawaii, I can attest to the greater need for inter-island flights whether you’re a Hawaii resident or like 30% of the people getting off a long-haul flight, you connect to a flight to another island. And competition is good, so like most, if not all of you, I’m ready for Southwest Airlines to start flying to Hawaii!