HONOLULU — Hawaiian Airlines finished the year in a very strong position.
Along with getting a record number of passengers to their destination on time with the fewest flight cancellations and flight reliability, the company also put in an order for 16 new aircraft to join their expanding fleet.
The airline reported it carried 9,484,204 passengers in 2012, the most in the company’s history, and a 9.4 percent increase over 2011, when HA flew 8,666,319 passengers.
Passenger statistics for December and the fourth quarter of 2012 were also company records.
Of those passengers, a good number are always en route to the Garden Island.
“Hawaiian operates between 15 to 20 flights daily to Kaua‘i with more flights offered on the weekends and during peak travel periods in order to meet customer demand,” said Keoni Wagner, vice president of corporate communications for Hawaiian Airlines.
Randy Francisco, president of the Kaua‘i Chamber said he appreciates the added convenience now that Hawaiian added later flights to Kaua‘i for passengers traveling to O‘ahu or Maui.
“Now we have choices,” he said of the flights. “We don’t have to stay overnight, yet can still attend evening events.”
Adding to the record number of flyers as well, HA was also top-ranked by the U.S. Department of Transportation for service reliability.
Hawaiian Airlines was nearly perfect during November in earning the top rankings for service reliability — offering the best on-time performance and fewest flight cancellations, as reported by the DOT.
Hawaiian scored the DOT’s number one ranking for punctuality, with its flights arriving as scheduled 94.1 percent of the time throughout November.
Hawaiian complemented its industry-leading on-time performance with a record of zero flight cancellations out of 5,985 total flights to also top that category for November.
In providing daily nonstop service to Hawai‘i from 11 gateway cities in North America — more cities than any other carrier — Hawaiian uses Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 767-300 aircraft, making it the only carrier to offer wide-body, twin-aisle aircraft for all transpacific flights.
Hawai‘i’s largest and longest-serving carrier is also the leading provider of air service between the islands of Hawai‘i.
The website, http://www.dot.gov/individuals/air-consumer/air-travel-consumer-reports offers
access to the DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report for November ranking the nation’s 15 largest carriers.
In order to accommodate the increasing number of travelers, HA placed an order last week to purchase new planes.
Hawaiian signed a Memorandum of Understanding with airframe manufacturer Airbus to purchase 16 new A321neo aircraft between 2017 and 2020, with rights to purchase nine additional planes.
The long-range, single-aisle aircraft will complement Hawaiian’s existing fleet of wide-body, twin-aisle airplane currently used for long-haul flying between Hawai‘i and the U.S. West Coast.
“Everyone at Hawaiian wants us to keep our position as the market leader in service quality, cost efficiency and choice of destinations,” aid Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines.
“Ordering the A321neo will secure this legacy on routes to the U.S. West Coast beyond the middle of this decade.”
Dunkerley added that the A321neo is poised to be the most fuel-efficient aircraft of its type after its introduction in 2016 as it has a slightly smaller size.
The new planes will allow HA to open new markets —such as from Mainland destinations direct to Kaua‘i, as Lihu‘e Airport is not designed for wide-body service.
The new aircraft will also increase service on current routes to the West Coast of North America, Dunkerley said.
At 146-feet-long, the A321neo will seat approximately 190 passengers in a first class and coach class configuration and will have a flight range of 3,650 nautical miles.
The aircraft will be designed to offer the same seat widths found in the twin-aisle Airbus A330.
While terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the aircraft have a total list-price value of approximately $2.8 billion if all of the purchase rights are exercised.
The new acquisitions also depend on HA signing new agreements with its pilots and flight attendant unions to cover operations of the new aircraft type.
If new agreements are reached, the fleet expansion is expected to generate about 1,000 additional jobs at HA.
“This is a significant investment in the future of both Hawaiian and Hawai‘i,” Dunkerley said. “Our tourism-based economy and local employment will benefit as we continue our strategy of diversifying our business while improving the efficiency of our operation.”
Airbus executives are also happy with the investment.
“Hawaiian has gotten great results with their A330s,” John Leahy, chief operating officer for Airbus, said in a statement. He said passengers and employees will benefit even further by flying, “the most popular single-aisle family in the sky.”
Hawaiian currently operates a fleet of 43 aircraft, featuring 25 wide-body, long-haul aircraft including the 294-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft and 264-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.
The company also operates 18 narrow-body 123-seat Boeing 717-200 aircraft for Neighbor Island flights.
Hawaiian’s existing orders include an additional 13 new A330s between 2013 and 2015, and six next-generation, longer-range A350XWB-800 aircraft starting in 2017.
The existing fleet of 16 Boeing 767s will phase out over the next decade.
