COURTESY AVIATION PARTNERS BOEING
Hawaiian Airlines has signed an agreement with Aviation Partners Boeing to purchase Blended Winglets for installation on eight Boeing 767-300 ER jets, and options to purchase seven additional pairs of Blended Winglets. The winglets, which are 11-feet tall and extend upward from each wing, will reduce the drag caused by the traditional wingtip design and are expected to save Hawaiian up to 5 percent in fuel consumption, resulting in a savings of more than 300,000 gallons of jet fuel annually per aircraft.
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Airlines to add more local service
Beginning Oct. 1, Delta will offer routes daily between Atlanta and Honolulu
More flights are scheduled to be added back to the Hawaii market, which has been grappling with the loss of about 15 percent of its airline capacity since Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines went out of business.
Alaska Airlines recently announced that it will cut capacity by 8 percent this winter and slash up to 1,000 jobs; however, Hawaii is actually going to benefit from these changes.
"We are increasing service to Hawaii," said Marianne Lindsey, manager of communications for Alaska Airlines.
"We are taking flights off of certain markets in the mainland and Alaska that aren't performing well and putting them into markets that will perform better."
Starting Nov. 17, Alaska Airlines will offer one daily flight from Seattle to Kona, Lindsey said.
"We have not served Kona before, but all of our other Hawaii service has done very well," she said. "Our frequent fliers have asked for this service and we think that it will do well."
Alaska Airlines also will offer increased service from Anchorage, Alaska, to Maui from Oct. 31 to April 25.
"It's a seasonal increase going to three times a week up from two times a week," Lindsey said.
Delta also will be restoring an additional Monday flight from Atlanta to Honolulu, said Anthony Black, a spokesman for Delta. Starting Oct. 1, the carrier will offer service from Atlanta to Honolulu once daily on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and twice daily on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, he said.
Currently, Delta offers once-daily service from Los Angeles to Kona on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Black said. Come Oct. 1, the carrier will add a Thursday flight to this lineup, he said.
Delta already offers once-daily service from Los Angeles to Kauai on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Thursday; however, after Oct.1, the carrier will add an additional flight on Wednesday, Black said.
Hawaiian Airlines is also in the process of adding approximately 36 percent more seats to its fleet with the purchase of four more 123-passenger Boeing 717 aircraft, according to a press release from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. The aircraft will be introduced into service at the rate of one a month beginning Oct. 1, the release said.