United adds L.A.
flight to Honolulu
The airline also says it will
By Russ Lynch
keep its larger plane in service
longer on the S.F.-Kona leg
Star-BulletinUnited Airlines said today it will add a fifth daily Los Angeles-Honolulu flight in mid-December and will keep its largest aircraft, the Boeing 747-400, in service on the daily San Francisco-Kona service longer than planned.
The extra Los Angeles flight will use a 188-seat Boeing 757. On that route, United now uses a mix of Douglas DC-10s, with about 290 seats, and Boeing 747s with up to about 400 seats.
The San Francisco-Kona service now uses a DC-10 but will go to the bigger 747 at the start of July, in time for the summer season. Instead of cutting back as planned on Sept. 6, after the big summer business, United now will keep the 747 on the Kona route an added seven weeks, until the end of October.
Norm Reeder, United's managing director-Hawaii, said United continues to add service to the islands. Its mainland-Hawaii business has benefited from the strong flow of mainland tourists to the islands, boosted by the strength of the mainland economy.
Reeder said the big 747 is attractive to people who want to upgrade for the flight across the Pacific because it has a first-class cabin with 36 seats and a business-class section with 123 seats.
United is boosting its overall business in and out of the West Coast and said it will increase total service from its recently expanded Los Angeles hub by 30 daily flights to U.S. destinations. United completed a $260 million expansion to its Los Angeles terminal in May and is now the biggest carrier at the airport, with about 30 percent of its operations. Los Angeles has been a United departure point for Hawaii since 1947.
Partly, the expansion of its West Coast business is a reaction to competitor American Airlines' boost of its California service last month.
United parent UAL Corp. warned today that its second-quarter profit will be below forecasts, at $2.40 to $2.80 a share rather than the $3.10 analysts had expected.
UAL shares fell as much as 5.4 percent as a result in early trading today, dipping as low as $62.25, but recovered to close up 56 cents at 66.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.
