Southwest Airlines begins eighth year of servicing Maui

Southwest Airlines commemorates seven years of dedicated community service across Maui on the anniversary of its first flight at Kahului Airport where Southwest first touched down April 8, 2019. 

“Mahalo, Maui! It touches our Heart to think how much support the community has shown Southwest since we first came to Maui with a goal to bring a new choice in interisland travel and with more access across the Pacific to the continent,” said Del Tauese, Station Manager for Southwest Airlines on Maui. 

Tauese, a 32-year Southwest Employee returned home to Hawaiʻi to open and lead the Maui operation. As part of the Hawaiʻi Leadership Team for Southwest in the Islands, he has helped build a workforce of hundreds of local Employees to support the Southwest Airlines operation at five airports across the state. 

As Southwest Flight 5160 from Oakland winged west on April 8, 2019, toward The Valley Isle from Oakland, Calif., Customers onboard the inaugural flight to Maui enjoyed an inflight Live at 35 concert from local singer-songwriter Lily Meola, showcasing the carrier’s purpose of connecting people to moments that matter most to them, and to reflecting the communities it serves across the map. 

Three weeks after launching trans-Pacific service from Kahului, Southwest offered its first-ever interisland flight. That initial service between Maui and Oʻahu answered a wide request from the community and led to an interisland franchise with dozens of flights a day within the state.

In the same way, Southwest heard a hope for more service between Hawaiʻi and The Ninth Island and added those flights in 2021. By this August, as new nonstop service between Hilo and Las Vegas begins, Southwest will serve Las Vegas nonstop from Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, and both commercial airports on Hawaiʻi Island. 

In 2023, Southwest unveiled Imua One, a locally designed aircraft livery dedicated to Southwest Employees and the people of Hawaiʻi.  

“Of all the things we’re most grateful for across these seven years is the work of our Maui Employees and larger Southwest family to support Maui community service. That really shows how the People of Southwest do some of our best work on the ground,” said Kelly Knox, Sr. Brand Partnerships & Community Engagement Advisor for Hawaiʻi.

“There are the day-to-day causes that reflect personal passions and community priorities of our Maui Employees—they bring our support of organizations like Maui United Way and Maui County Charity Walk—but we also have rallied around generational challenges in these seven years like keeping Maui connected during the global pandemic and providing relief supplies and emergency transportation in the wake of the big fires and the most recent floods  These are Maui moments that bring us gratitude for being uniquely equipped to help when it matters most,” Knox said. 

With Heart for Hawaiʻi, Southwest offers Island residents who are members of the carrier’s Rapid Rewards program the additional loyalty benefits of ʻOhana Rewards, including quarterly discount codes for cash and Points bookings and two free checked bags, including sports equipment, on interisland flights. See complete terms and conditions of ʻOhana Rewards at Southwest.com/aloha.  

Southwest is in a multi-year effort to bring more for its Customers including the launch earlier this year of assigned seats with premium options including Extra Legroom seating, a redesigned cabin with faster and Free WiFi on unlimited devices thanks to T-Mobile. An enhanced Rapid Rewards program offers new benefits for Credit Cardmembers, alongside new vacation packages, more redeye service to the mainland, and partnerships with international airlines that serve Hawaiʻi, including Philippine Airlines and ANA All Nippon Airways.