America West readies
for isle service

The Phoenix-based carrier
will offer daily round-trip
flights starting in December

It's been 12 years between flights, but America West is ready to spread its wings again in Hawaii.

The Phoenix-based carrier, which earlier this year began training its crew on overwater procedures, said yesterday it will begin service to the islands on Dec. 16 with daily round trips between Phoenix and Honolulu and Phoenix and Kahului, Maui. Expanded service that will include Las Vegas will start in March.

America West's arrival will mark its first flights to Hawaii since it last flew here from 1989 to 1993. Last month, the airline disclosed its intention to fly to Hawaii but declined to unveil any details.

"The tide is high, the surf's up; come on everybody, we're going to Hawaii," said Scott Kirby, executive vice president of sales and marketing for America West.

Not surprisingly, Hawaiian and Aloha airlines didn't share Kirby's enthusiasm since America West's presence will be a direct assault on routes currently served by the state's two largest airlines.

Hawaiian, which has a code-share agreement with America West, offers daily flights to and from Phoenix and has one daily flight to Las Vegas with another midnight flight serving Las Vegas six days a week.

Keoni Wagner, spokesman for Hawaiian, said the airline will cease its code-share agreement with America West on trans-Pacific flights when America West begins service here in December. However, Wagner said Hawaiian's code-share with America West will remain for interisland flights. Code-sharing allows a carrier to sell flights to another carrier as its own.

"This is really just the latest addition of capacity that's been flooding into the market over the summer and the end of this year, but we are confident that Hawaiian's product is competitive," Wagner said. "We will continue to offer our daily service out of Phoenix because of the strong market response we've had there."

Wagner also said Hawaiian will continue serving Las Vegas.

Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman reiterated a statement he had made a month ago and said that Aloha welcomes the competition. Aloha doesn't serve Phoenix, but flies daily to Las Vegas through a connecting flight in Oakland, Calif.

The entry of the eighth-largest U.S. carrier into the Hawaii market comes at a time when America West is in the process of acquiring US Airways out of bankruptcy. America West will fly to Hawaii with Boeing 757-200 jets, which have a seating capacity of 190.

America West's expanded service in March will include a daily flight between Las Vegas and Kahului, a second daily flight between Phoenix and Honolulu, four weekly round trips between Phoenix and Lihue, Kauai, and three round trips a week between Phoenix and Kona on the Big Island.