STAR-BULLETIN FILE
Hawaiian Airlines' DC-9s, above, are part of the fleet that is being
replaced. The carrier said the three Boeing 767-300ER widebody
jets it will be leasing are worth a total of $330 million.

Hawaiian Air
to lease new 767s

Boeing jets to replace
DC-10s on long routes

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. will lease three new Boeing 767-300ER widebody jets as it begins to implement its previously announced replacement of the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s in its mainland-Hawaii and Hawaii-South Pacific services.

Lease terms were not disclosed but the airline said the three aircraft are worth a total of $330 million.

When it announced in late 1998 that it intended to replace its entire interisland fleet with new Boeing 717s, more efficient than the DC-9s, Hawaiian said it would also be looking for more efficient planes to replace the DC-10s on the long hauls.

For the first part of that replacement, the 767-300ER is the aircraft of choice because it is much more efficient than the DC-10, said airline spokesman Keoni Wagner.

"It is just best suited for the flying that we do, featuring widebody comfort with two aisles and the operating characteristics and the costs of operation that are ideal for our operations," Wagner said.

The 737-300ER (for "extended range") is being promoted as a fuel-efficient aircraft, an important selling point with consistently high fuel prices.

The three aircraft will be delivered in October, November and December and operated by Hawaiian under long-term leases from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Inc., a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.

Each will carry 252 passengers, 18 in first class and 234 in coach. The DC-10s currently on the long routes, 10 of them in the Hawaiian Airlines fleet, carry 303 passengers each.

Wagner said the DC-10 replacement program is not yet fully in place and could not say whether more 767-300s will be acquired.