Hawaiian Airlines Expands Fleet, Adding Flights, Jobs

Hawaiian Airlines is adding three more Boeing 717-200 aircraft to its interisland fleet. Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines.

By Sonia Isotov

As the result of the addition of three new aircraft to its fleet, Hawaiian Airlines today announced that it will be adding more flights and jobs.

Hawaiian Airlines has leased three additional Boeing 717-200 aircraft in response to increasing consumer demand, and will be able to expand its interisland service between Honolulu and Kahului, Lihue, Hilo, and Kona during peak travel periods.

Hawaiian expects to take delivery of the three additional aircraft in September, October and November, and starting in October add approximately 20 flights per day between Honolulu and its other airports in Hawaii.

The company also expects to hire an additional 40-50 pilots, flight attendants and ground staff to support the increased flight operations.

“With our increasing service to Hawaii from Asia, demand for our interisland flights during peak hours of the day and during popular travel periods has never been higher. Adding these aircraft will give us the ability to serve more customers during these periods,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement today. “At the same time, we are restructuring the ownership of our existing fleet to reduce our aircraft costs. With other costs rising quickly, this will help us keep fares affordable.”