Southwest Airlines has completed its FAA-mandated test flights to Hawaii and is now waiting to get the OK from the federal agency.
The airline has been conducting proving flights with FAA investigators onboard over the past several days to gain the necessary ‘ETOPS’ certification allowing for long flights over water.
It now hopes to get the green light within days to begin flights .
When that happens, Southwest will announce schedules and could begin services within 4-6 weeks.
It previously announced an intention to serve Hawaii from San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego.
"We’ve completed our scheduled ETOPS validation flights. We are continuing our dialogue with the FAA this week to receive feedback which moves us closer to completing the final phase," the airline said.
The validation flights were held up by the partial government shutdown which Southwest says cost the airline a total of $60 million.
