Go! reports it filled fewer seats in August
The carrier's passenger count declined last month
New interisland carrier go! filled fewer seats last month than it had during its first two months of operation, even as the subsidiary of Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc. kept the pressure on in the interisland airfare war.
Go!, which this week extended the availability of its $29 one-way fares, said yesterday it had a load factor of 64.5 percent last month, down from 73.9 percent in July -- its first full month of operation -- and 82.5 percent during its debut in the last three weeks of June.
Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and chief executive of Mesa, said the partial use of a spare aircraft last month increased the number of available seats on go!, contributing to the lower load factor.
"It's full steam ahead, and the load factor going up or down a few points doesn't change our view," Ornstein said. "We're going to be affected by seasonal trends like anyone else.
"All we're looking to do is introduce the product to people and show people we're reliable. I'm pleased with both the 96 percent on-time and near-100 percent completion rate."
In August, go! carried 62,367 passengers, down from 69,680 the previous month.
Revenue passenger miles, or the total miles flown by paying passengers, was 8.9 million last month compared with 9.8 million in July, while available seat miles rose to 13.8 million from 13.3 million.
Hawaiian Airlines hasn't released its air traffic numbers yet for August while privately held Aloha Airlines' numbers won't be available for several months.
Neither of the incumbent carriers separate their interisland and trans-Pacific flight statistics, but in Hawaiian's case, its planes overall have been flying relatively full. Hawaiian had a systemwide load factor of 89.3 percent in July.
Hawaiian and Aloha, meanwhile, continued to rank one-two as having the best on-time service in July, according to the federal Air Travel Consumer Report, which covers 20 airlines. Hawaiian was No. 1 for the 33rd straight month, with flights arriving 95.8 percent on time, or within 15 minutes of schedule. Aloha was second at 92 percent and Mesa, which operates in 173 cities and 46 states, was 19th at 66.7 percent.
Hawaiian also placed first in baggage handling with just 2.66 mishandled baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers flown. It was the third month in a row Hawaiian has been first in that category.
"Our customers know that Hawaiian's employees aren't just striving to be the best, but actually producing a higher quality of service that keeps us atop the airline industry," said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and CEO.
Aloha was sixth in baggage handling at 4.92 mishandled bags and Mesa 17th at 10.05 systemwide.
Hawaiian was second in fewest canceled flights with 11 cancellations out of 4,778 flights, or 0.2 percent. Aloha was tied for 12th with 68 of 4,607 flights, or 1.5 percent. Mesa was 20th with 1,083 of 27,242 flights, or 4 percent.
Aloha ranked first in fewest customer complaints with zero from 324,584 passengers served. Hawaiian ranked eighth with four out of 571,569, or 0.7 percent. Mesa was 16th with 15 of 1,216,898, or 1.23 percent.
Aloha also ranked first for fewest passengers denied boarding, with seven of 829,591, or 0.08 percent, for the quarter ending June 30. Hawaiian was fourth with 27 of 1,526,360, or 1.8 percent, for the same period, while Mesa was 18th with 415 of 1,696,331, or 2.45 percent.