Hawaiian
to boost
mainland
service

The airline plans to hire 250
and buy 2 planes

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaiian Airlines plans to start mainland-Maui and mainland-Kona service in mid-March, adding two long-range DC-10 aircraft to its fleet and boosting its staff by about 250, including 30 pilots.

Paul J. Casey, president and chief executive officer of Hawaiian Airlines Inc., disclosed the plans today at an informal meeting with reporters. Casey said the airline plans to run four a flights a week in a Los Angeles-Maui-Los Angeles service and three a week on a Los Angeles-Maui-Kona-Los Angeles route.

Casey said demand for direct service to the neighbor islands is growing and travelers to Maui in particular are frequent Hawaii visitors who don't want to stop in Honolulu and also want to fly wide-body aircraft.

The airline is seeking to acquire two long-range DC-10-30 jets with a seat capacity of 304 each to add to its fleet of 10 DC-10-10s, Casey said.

John Garibaldi, the airline's chief financial officer, is negotiating to buy the additional aircraft, Casey said. Garibaldi said the cost is not yet set but the total investment in the new services will run to the "tens of millions."

Casey said travelers are willing to pay extra to fly direct to Maui and Hawaiian is convinced it can make money out of the Maui and Kona flights. He said Hawaiian expects to build its market share next year to 26 percent of the total mainland-Hawaii passenger business, from about 22 percent now, increasing its available seat miles by 14 percent.

While other airlines are cutting back because of tourism's downturn, Hawaiian feels it can keep building its market, Casey said. "We've proven that we can do well even when tourism is down."

Casey said Hawaiian also plans to use DC-10-30 aircraft on its weekly Tokyo-Maui service, set to start in the year 2000. However, the Kahului airport's runway extension, which is needed to make the Japan service possible, is not likely to be completed until the fourth quarter of 2000, he said.

Hawaiian's federal authority for the Tokyo-Maui service goes into effect in the first quarter of that year and the airline may have to negotiate a delay, he said.

Casey said Hawaiian is also looking to replace the 13 DC-9 jets it uses in interisland service with used DC-9s that have a shor-ter service record than those the airline has now.