Are You GO for $39?

[Miulang]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

All I can say is, if HAL and AQ leave the interisland market, it will be because locals are voting with their wallets. Right now they probably make more money catering to Mainland tourists anyway because of their direct flights from the West Coast. In order to fly on Mesa to Hawaii from just about anywhere except Phoenix, I think you have to change planes ucka pila times (I think Mesa partners with SWA). Me? I like the convenience of being on one carrier all the way through. No hassles at the airport, fewer problems with baggage getting misplaced, etc. It's worth it to me to pay a few more bucks for that convenience, and yes, I AM loyal to HAL for my Hawai'i trips and AlaskaAir (Alaska is HQ'd here in Seattle) whenever I have to fly on the West Coast. Between the Coasts I fly the cheapest flights I can that are nonstop.

As long as HAL and AQ are matching Go's airfare, there's no reason on earth NOT to continue to fly HAL and AQ! When everybody's prices go up again in a few months because of the high cost of fuel, THEN decide if you want to switch. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Miulang

P.S. Arturo: If they assembled cars in Hawai'i, you bet your okole I would support buying "Made in Hawai'i!"

[arturo_h]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

P.S. Arturo: If they assembled cars in Hawai'i, you bet your okole I would support buying "Made in Hawai'i!"

Hah, that would be great! I can see it now .
Arturo

[smoot]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

I understand where Zztype is coming from, but the people who will be hurting if Hawaiian and Aloha take a hit won't be the fatcat CEOs or the decision makers. It'll be all the folks who work for them. History has shown us that even if you drive a corporation into the ground, some other corporation is always willing to hire you. They'll be back to making millions in no time.

On the other hand, there will be hundreds (thousands?) of jobless attendants, mechanics, etc.

To me, it's a tough call. But my opinion is moot anyway because I can't afford to fly anywhere.

[LikaNui]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Island Air's planes... and how come nobody ever gives them any credit in these discussions?

Interestingly, Island Air has been on a media blitz the past two weeks, with a huge rise in the amount of print and broadcast advertising. They must've known in advance that a new airline was coming.
The "spokesman" in their new TV ads is a character named "InterIsland Steve". (One ad notes how IIS "takes off his bling before going through security screening".) Overall, pretty lame ads.

[dick]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

I rode on the Island Air media flight for the new Q400... it's a pretty swank plane. Certainly no Cessna. Felt like I was riding a jet. We flew to OGG and back. Took pretty much the same time as a jet. There was a slight vibration when they started the engines, and that prop drone at take off, but other than that it was quite nice... If it's cheaper than the rest, I'd love to fly with them...

[pzarquon]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Thanks for the report, Dick. The last time I rode an Island Air plane has to have been over 10 years ago, and all I remember is being asked, "How much do you weight? Okay, can you sit over here instead?" Never taken a small plane since. But with interisland fares being what they are, and with the new planes coming to town, they're definitely worth a second look.

I was actually thinking Mesa Air (er, I mean, "Go") was going to be flying similar turbo-prop planes. Now that I see they're using smaller jets, I'm a little more curious.

Yeah, I know, not wanting to fly propeller planes is a pretty unreasonable fear. Almost anything in the air is safer than driving, yada yada yada. But I know I'm not alone!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Island Air had several size turbo props, you probably rode the smallest ones where balance is critical.

The typical Island Air plane is pretty comfortable, although I think the best one was Mahalo Air's Fokker.

Try flying into Molokai on an Air Molokai plane. There they balance the plane using a stick to determine if that fat lady has to move forward or not. They pack luggage into the wing compartments.

But the most interesting landing in Molokai is when flying in on a Hawaiian Airlines Jet. I think pilots that land that big jet there must have Navy carrier certification landing or something because you basically run out of runway in Molokai on that short landing strip. You still feel that forward momentum as the plane turns onto the taxi way.

Regarding the $39 Go fares...that isn't a promotional fare is it? I read in the papers that the quoted fare of $39 is based on what they considered a fair fare so I assume they mean it'll be what it should be until the price of fuel forces them to raise it up. At $80 round trip I could afford to fly every month. Now if they could only couple that with an air/room/car package that would be great.

[mel]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

I haven't flown on a prop plane since the early 1990s. The last one I flew on was probably either a Mid Pacific Airlines YS-11 or a Hawaiian Airlines Dash 7. I liked the Dash 7... good plane, 4 engines, overhead wing, good view all window seats. The Dash 8 and the successive Q series are probably the same.

Here is some of the promotional hype off Bombadier's website regarding their Q propliners:

Like our CRJ family, the Q Series-as the Dash 8 has been known since 1996-also flies in three sizes: the 37-seat* Q200; the 50-seat* Q300, and; the highly advanced 70-seat* Q400. In fact, the Q Series introduced a whole new generation of turboprops with its revolutionary Noise and Vibration Suppression (NVS) system. NVS lowers cabin noise and vibration to levels previously unattainable in a turboprop… lower in fact than many commercial jet interiors. And, the Q Series also carries a common type rating, maximizing the benefits of common crew qualifications.

When I was a kid I used to ride in many of Hawaiian Air's old prop planes... DC-6, Convair 340, Convair 640.

Now I just remembered, the last I time I was on a prop plane was about 13 years ago onboard an American Eagle BAE Jetstream 31 and Saab 340. Both were pretty good planes.

You know what be cool if Island Air or Mesa / Go decided to have regularly scheduled flights in Waimea-Kohala (MUE) airport on the Big Island. More than 20 years ago the airport was served for a long time by Hawaiian Air. They flew prop planes as well as the DC9 jets into the place. The landings on a jet were similar to what was described for Molokai.

Hawaiian discontinued Molokai service about 2 or 3 years ago.

[Miulang]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Hawaiian discontinued Molokai service about 2 or 3 years ago.

Yes, Molokai'ans don't have as many choices to get off island as people on the other islands do. Right now they only have Island Air (which is pretty comfortable), the Moloka'i Princess ferry to Lahaina, or those "commuter" flights from the charters.

When we were on Moloka'i a couple of years ago it was fascinating to see who was flying Island Air (at the time it cost about $150 RT from OGG per person , so mostly tourists were on the plane and it was only about half full), who was taking the charter flights (locals) and the Moloka'i Princess (locals and their ohana, carrying aboard ucka pila boxes and huuuuuge coolers for the Costco run ).

Miulang

[mel]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

People flying to Molokai, Lanai or any of the rural airports unfortunately have to pay the higher fares even if they are on prop planes. The $39 fare is only being used by Island Air on the routes flown by their competitors Mesa/Go, Aloha and Hawaiian... which means the 5 major airports in the islands.

[808shows.com]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

hey there... i wasn't saying that it wasn't a "jet"... just that it would be much more than "a little smaller" than a 717.

It's a 50 seater.
to be clear, a 50 seat JET-powered aircraft.

while a 717 hAS 126 seats (or something like that.)

isn't that less than half the size?



but right on, nice to see island air suddenly back from the dead when it comes to this discussion. (us little guys gotta stick together!)

see ya at a show ?!!!!

[mel]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Go! has secured space at the Honolulu Airport commuter terminal, which means they will be sharing space with Island Air and Pacific Wings.

go! is Go

go!, the new Hawaiian operating division of Mesa Air Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MESA - News) which will begin inter-island service June 9th, announced today that it has reached agreement with the State Department of Transportation for facilities in the Commuter Terminal at Honolulu International Airport.

Effective June 9, 2006 Mesa will launch inter-island Hawaiian service as go! This new operation will link Honolulu to the neighbor island airports of Hilo, Kahului, Kona, and Lihue.

my 1,800th post

[Miulang]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Go! has secured space at the Honolulu Airport commuter terminal, which means they will be sharing space with Island Air and Pacific Wings.

go! is Go



my 1,800th post

Wonder which terminal they'll use at OGG? Island Air for several years has been fighting for gate space in the main terminal. The commuter terminal at OGG is very cramped (they have portapotties set up outside the terminal...no rest facilities within the terminal itself) so unless Island Air moves over to the main terminal, it'll be interesting to see how they'll coordinate the flights among Island Air, Mesa and all the charters that fly out of OGG.

Miulang

[pzarquon]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

In addition to the Mesa Airlines press release published verbatim by the Hawaii Reporter, here's an article on the deal in the Star-Bulletin.

Kind of odd that they were initially slotted in the Interisland Terminal where Aloha is located. Not only is that facility fully subscribed, but I can't see how it could've supported boarding from the tarmac anyway, with all those larger jets lumbering around.

The commuter terminal will save them and passengers time and money, and in this case at least both Mesa and the incumbent airlines were in agreement that "go!" (lowercase and with gratuitious punctuation -- how trendy!) didn't belong in the interisland terminal. And CEO Jonathan Ornstein says that bookings are going quite well.

[mel]

Re: Are You GO for $39?

Kind of odd that they were initially slotted in the Interisland Terminal where Aloha is located. Not only is that facility fully subscribed, but I can't see how it could've supported boarding from the tarmac anyway, with all those larger jets lumbering around.

How do we forget. Back in the 1980s when MidPacific Air was flying YS-11 turboprop planes, they actually used the main terminal as their boarding gate. The planes parked near the jetways but passengers had to board from the tarmac below. The planes were too small for jetway use.

MidPac enjoyed the position they had at the main terminal at the time since mainland flights were nearby. Both Hawaiian and Aloha complained about the gate space at the time, and eventually MidPac was moved to the interisland terminal (which at the time was today's commuter terminal).

The situation was the same but on a smaller scale at Hilo Airport. Mid Pac and all other airlines that flew smaller planes came and still come to the main terminal but use the tarmac for boarding instead of the jetways.

I don't know much about Kahului airport since I rarely ever go there.

Pacific Wings more than anyone else there have been for years fighting over their terminal, office and hanger space with the State DOT.