Aloha Air to
give passengers
more legroom

The airline hopes to
attract more business
with the move

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Seeking to counter months of soft business and to build a happier customer base, Aloha Airlines plans to give passengers on its Boeing 737 jets two more inches of legroom.

The interisland airline yesterday said it will achieve that by removing two rows of seats in the coach section of each of its 18 jets. At the same time, Aloha will add a row of seats in its first-class section.

That section in most aircraft now consists of two rows of two seats on each side of the aisle, a total of eight, while coach class has three seats on each side. In the new arrangement there will be four additional first-class seats in most of the aircraft. For the 737s that Aloha converts to all-cargo use at night, the first-class seats, now six, will increase to 10.

Glenn Zander, Aloha president and chief executive, said passengers in the rest of the aircraft will get more room. One reason for the change is that Japanese business is down but the airline also wants to win customers by providing better service, Zander said.

He predicted that the Japanese business will be back, and strong, within a few months. The new strength of the yen against the dollar is creating new buying power for Japanese tourists, not only to travel but to spend while they are traveling, Zander said.

"We are relatively optimistic about Japan. We see visitors rebounding in March," he said.

The first-class expansion also has to do with Aloha's frequent-flier arrangements with other airlines, aimed at giving good customers something extra, he said.

Since Aloha's 737s are not all the same, the changes won't be equal on all aircraft.

The result will be a fleet that has from 102 to 112 passengers in coach class and 10 to 12 in first class.

The alterations will be completed by mid-year, Zander said.

Hawaiian Airlines Inc., which flies Douglas DC-9 jets interisland, said seat spacing is a nonissue. "We find that our seating in its present configuration is very comfortable and we get no complaints from our passengers," said Paul Casey, Hawaiian president and chief executive.

Aloha Airlines, the major subsidiary of privately owned Aloha Airgroup Inc., flies only interisland. Hawaiian flies DC-10 jumbo jets to the West Coast and the South Pacific in addition to its DC-9 interisland flights.