Seahawks to fly Hawaiian
Hawaiian Airlines doesn't play favorites when it comes to the National Football League.
The state's oldest carrier said yesterday it was adding the Seattle Seahawks to the roster of NFL teams that it will be flying to road games on charter flights this season. Earlier this month, Hawaiian said it will be transporting the Oakland Raiders on charter flights for the eighth consecutive year.
Hawaiian's charter deal with the Seahawks is a first for the airline. Hawaiian will take the team on its 264-seat Boeing 767 aircraft to eight regular-season road games that will involve more than 33,000 miles of travel. The airline, which also offers regularly scheduled service to Seattle from both Honolulu and Kahului, Maui, will fly the Seahawks to games in Phoenix; San Francisco; Pittsburgh; Cleveland; St. Louis; Philadelphia; Charlotte, N.C.; and Atlanta.
The new partnership with Seattle will allow the airline to affix the Seahawks' logos to the aircraft during the team's charter flights. The charter service will include extra-large meals with fresh fruit, and up to three first-run movies.
"We want the best for our coaches, players and staff, and Hawaiian Airlines is consistently rated the No. 1 carrier in the nation for service and quality," said Tim Ruskell, the Seahawks' president of football operations and general manager.
Hawaiian also will be flying the Raiders to eight regular-season road games as well as a preseason exhibition game in Seattle. The road games will be to Denver; Miami; San Diego; Nashville, Tenn.; Minneapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; Green Bay, Wis.; and Jacksonville, Fla.
Rival Aloha Airlines also announced earlier this month it would be a major player this football season with a contract to fly the University of Hawaii football team on charter flights to all five of the team's away games this year. This is the seventh straight year that the team will be flying on Aloha, and the first year that Aloha is providing charters for all the scheduled away games.
Charter flights this year will be to Monroe, La., for a Sept. 8 game against Louisiana Tech; Las Vegas for a Sept. 15 game against University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Lewiston, Idaho, for a Sept. 29 game against the University of Idaho; San Jose, Calif., for an Oct. 12 game against San Jose State University; and Reno, Nev., for a Nov. 16 game against University of Nevada at Reno.
Aloha also said that Fresno State University's football team will fly Aloha to its game against the Warriors on Nov. 10 at Aloha Stadium.