Hawaiian airlines on-time record is no joking matter
It used to be said that the initials HAL stands for “Hawaiian Always Late.” But Hawaiian Airlines has been the top US domestic carrier for on-time arrivals each month since January.
Second? Aloha Airlines, also in Hawaii.
But that can be deceiving, says the Pacific Business News.
“The operating environment in Hawaii is far different than Mainland airports dealing with bad weather and heavy air traffic control,” said Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and CEO of Mesa Air Group, who added:
“There are no airports in Hawaii of any size that operate at the level of disruption you’ll find elsewhere.”
Mr Ornstein said Aloha and Hawaiian’s on-time numbers are helped by serving primarily West Coast airports that generally move planes better than in more congested markets.
“There is big difference between even a major hub like LAX when compared with Newark, LaGuardia, Dulles, Chicago or Atlanta,” he said.
In the US Department of Transportation air travel consumer report for July, on-time arrivals were almost 95% for Hawaiian and more than 91% for Aloha — well ahead of third-place Pinnacle Airlines in Memphis, Tenn.
Report by David Wilkening
