Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

[Star of Gladness]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

BTS Releases Second-Quarter 2007 Air Fare Data; Average Second-Quarter Air Fares Fell 4.5 Percent from 2006;
Top 100 Airports: Highest Fare in Cincinnati, Lowest Fare at Lihue, Hawaii


BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the average domestic itinerary fare in the second quarter of 2007 was $326, down 4.5 percent from the average fare in the second quarter of 2006 , the post-2001 high, and down 5.8 percent from the historic second-quarter high of $346 in 2000 (Table 1).



The lowest fares in the top 100 airports were at three Hawaii airports followed by Dallas Love; and Chicago Midway (Table 3). See http://www.bts.gov/xml/atpi/src/index.xml for average fares for the top 100 airports.

The biggest year-to-year average decrease was 28.8 percent in Lihue (Kauai), HI. The four largest year-to-year average fare decreases for the second quarter were for itineraries originating in four Hawaii airports followed by Charleston, SC (Table 4).

Rank

Origin

Second Quarter 2007

Highest Average Fares

1

Cincinnati, OH

562.23

2

Anchorage, AK

487.68

3

Greenville/Spartanburg, SC

469.26

4

Knoxville TN

442.09

5

Charleston, SC

438.17

Average Fare at All Airports

326.22

Lowest Average Fares

1

Lihue (Kauai), HI

138.66

2

Kona, HI

168.63

3

Kahului (Maui), HI

179.25

4

Dallas Love, TX

195.11

5

Chicago Midway, Il

219.25

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

[Star of Gladness]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

So according tot he DOT/BTS the average fare in the US for any city is $326.

Hawaii airports rank top three out of the top 100 list of lowest average fares. (Thanks go!)

Lihue at $138.66 is less than half the average fare.

Even pre-go! fares of "around $200" are no where near the average of $326 or the high of $562.23

Peter Forman is right. Mesa wanted to raise the fares higher than they have ever been before once Aloha went out of business.

Lucky you live Hawaii!

[joshuatree]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Looking at Table 5 from the link you provided, the top 5 locations that had the largest fare increases from 1995-2005 were

1) Lihue, Kauai

2) Kona, Hawaii

3) Long Beach, CA

4) Honolulu, Oahu

5) Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena, CA

So, it looks like with the exception of Mahalo Air from 95-97, the bulk of that time frame was dominated by AQ/HA and we see the market claim 3 of the 5 top spots for largest fare increases.

[Star of Gladness]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Looking at Table 5 from the link you provided, the top 5 locations that had the largest fare increases from 1995-2005 were

1) Lihue, Kauai

2) Kona, Hawaii

3) Long Beach, CA

4) Honolulu, Oahu

5) Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena, CA

So, it looks like with the exception of Mahalo Air from 95-97, the bulk of that time frame was dominated by AQ/HA and we see the market claim 3 of the 5 top spots for largest fare increases.

Right, and after all those fare increases prices were still in the "$200 range" still more than $100 below the average, kind of proving Peter Formans's point don't you think? http://www.airlinesofhawaii.com/iiairwar.htm

[joshuatree]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Right, and after all those fare increases prices were still in the "$200 range" still more than $100 below the average, kind of proving Peter Formans's point don't you think? http://www.airlinesofhawaii.com/iiairwar.htm

Not really, many factors are simplified and overlooked such as ground costs for specific airports, demand , alternatives, type of market, etc.

[Miulang]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Interesting little tidbit from the union for flight attendants about how the Mesa flight attendants, among the lowest paid in the industry, suspect that their "sacrifices" in terms of low salaries and other concessions are helping to subsidize Mesa's China plans with Shenzeng Airlines.

Miulang

[pzarquon]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Mesa ordered to pay Hawaiian Air $80M

A federal judge today ordered the parent of interisland carrier go! to pay Hawaiian Airlines $80 million for the misuse of confidential business information.

[oggboy]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Mesa ordered to pay Hawaiian Air $80M

You beat me, I just came across the info.

[MixedPlateBroker]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Wow! That's a lot of quarters, dimes, nickles and pennies.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[joshuatree]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Yay! Finally a judgment, I was beginning to think the case just disappeared. So as I suspected, Mesa gets fined but not barred from serving Hawaii. The next question now is, what will Mesa do? If they just pay the fine and continue, what will AQ and HA do? $80 mil's a lot but no where near the $173 mil and the year long ban.

[Miulang]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Mesa's CFO Peter Murnane is a finalist for the Washington Post's 2007 Idiot of the Year Award. Read some of the comments following the article from former Mesa employees to see how much Ornstein is "loved".

Miulang

[aloha-anon]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Mesa ordered to pay Hawaiian $80 Million

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/da...mesaruling.pdf

Is everybody happy now?

[LikaNui]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Is there any reason that Mesa won't appeal the ruling? That could tie things up for another year or two. And if they appeal all the way up the chain, maybe a decade?
Or will they just accept it and write a check for $80 million?
And what will this do to the fare wars?

[joshuatree]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Is there any reason that Mesa won't appeal the ruling? That could tie things up for another year or two. And if they appeal all the way up the chain, maybe a decade?
Or will they just accept it and write a check for $80 million?
And what will this do to the fare wars?

Think that's a possible move for them. Exxon is still appealing on the amount it owes for the Valdez accident and that was 18 years ago?

[Star of Gladness]

Re: Hawaii's Interisland Air War - Chapter 4

Is there any reason that Mesa won't appeal the ruling? That could tie things up for another year or two. And if they appeal all the way up the chain, maybe a decade?
Or will they just accept it and write a check for $80 million?
And what will this do to the fare wars?

For starters Mesa will have to post a bond, usually in the amount of the ruling plus some. Kind of like a bail bond. What I heard is 125% of the amount. So that makes $80 MIL a nice clean $100MIL.

Mesa just announced they will appeal so I guess they are going to have to post the $100MIL bond. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071031/law098.html?.v=98

Good job Hawaiian. Hopefully Mesa wont file Ch. 11 before Aloha gets their day in April.