Flights to Hawaii extremely limited on major carriers through September 30, 2020 (copied from Vistana)

[sjlola]

[Originally posted in Vistana forum. Copied here as the cited article should be of general Hawaiian interest. Original post still exists in Vistana forum.]

For those of us on the west coast, it looks like if you need to travel there in the next 5 months, you'd need to book on Hawaiian from either Los Angeles or San Francisco, then connect to Maui or Kauai through Honolulu. Here's a link to the article I found that was published yesterday:

DOT approvals granted for suspension of flights to Hawaii - Hawaii Forum - Tripadvisor

Answer 1 of 89: Reposted: To get CARES Act funds, airlines were required to maintain service to all cities they served pre-pandemic ...or file a request with the Department of Transportation to terminate service. Airlines looking to stop service to/from Hawaii...

www.tripadvisor.com

[Vistana-related question removed from this copy of the post, but remains in the copy in Vistana forum.]

 

[DannyTS]

For those of us on the west coast, it looks like if you need to travel there in the next 5 months, you'd need to book on Hawaiian from either Los Angeles or San Francisco, then connect to Maui or Kauai through Honolulu. Here's a link to the article I found that was published yesterday:

DOT approvals granted for suspension of flights to Hawaii - Hawaii Forum - Tripadvisor

Answer 1 of 89: Reposted: To get CARES Act funds, airlines were required to maintain service to all cities they served pre-pandemic ...or file a request with the Department of Transportation to terminate service. Airlines looking to stop service to/from Hawaii...

www.tripadvisor.com

I'm curious whether this will affect Vistana's time period to make a reservation using our now restricted options by 12/31/2021 or the maximum 120 day reservation window.

We have flights with United for August from Canada to OGG (booked with Air Canada). I was not notified of any change and I looked online, there is no sign that the flight was cancelled. But as the blogger noted, they are now free to cancel any flight so they may do it anytime.

 

[DaveNV]

I just contacted Hawaiian about a flight from Seattle to Honolulu that I have scheduled for August. She said at this time the flight is still scheduled to go. So the article above would seem to apply to new reservations, not existing ones. Maybe.

Dave

 

[rickandcindy23]

I don't believe the article on Trip Advisor because no other media outlet is reporting this. So it makes me wonder if someone is just trying to keep visitors out and posted that on Trip Advisor for that purpose. I did a Google search to find more info from a news source. Couldn't find any.

 

[buzglyd]

I’ve got a non-stop on Alaska on Sept 30 from San Diego to KOA. It hasn’t been cancelled. This could just be click bait. The internet is a hell hole of misinformation. The “clicks” business model needs to be changed.

 

[Luanne]

I don't believe the article on Trip Advisor because no other media outlet is reporting this. So it makes me wonder if someone is just trying to keep visitors out and posted that on Trip Advisor for that purpose. I did a Google search to find more info from a news source. Couldn't find any.

From April 27. Talks about suspension of flights to Samoa, but further down it says this (full article linked):

The USDOT order also covered temporary suspension of Hawaiian Airlines’ flights between Hawaii and eight US cities - Boston, Las Vegas, New York City (which has the highest death rate in the US), Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, as well as Sacramento and San Diego in California.


Exemption for these flights to the US mainland are effective from Apr. 17th through Sept. 30th, according to the USDOT order.



https://www.samoanews.com/local-new...-airs-requests-suspend-most-out-state-flights

Posted April 20 from the Washington Post.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation...-alaska-hawaiian-airlines-to-cut-some-routes/

 

[buzglyd]

I think some of these suspension orders are to prevent airlines from losing “slots.” If routes are granted by the DOT, airlines are required to continue to fly them. Lately, the government is allowing airlines to suspend flights. It doesn’t mean they have to.

 

[Luanne]

And I found this. This is the actual order. I found it by opening up the Tripadvisor post, then scrolling down. Someone asked for reference.

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOT-OST-2020-0037-0081

 

[DavidnRobin]

A guy from TUG is walking down the beach and kicks a bottle. Out pops a Genie willing to grant him any wish.

He pauses, and then wishes for a bridge to Hawaii since planes are no longer flying there, and he doesn’t want to lose his Timeshare week.

The Genie apologizes, but he cannot do that - too difficult for such a long distance. Wish again.

The guy pauses and then wishes to know how women work? Their range of emotions and feelings - what they really mean when talking or quiet - their desires, what they want from men, etc...

The Genie pauses and then asks..
“Do you want that bridge to be 2 lanes or 4?”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sjlola]

And I found this. This is the actual order. I found it by opening up the Tripadvisor post, then scrolling down. Someone asked for reference.

https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOT-OST-2020-0037-0081

I opened the DOT document in the link. Seems legitimate. The link I posted wasn't clickbait, but from the Hawaii Forum on Trip Advisor. I'd like to se something more convincing, but it certainly doesn't surprise me if the airlines are denying anything is amiss right now.

 

[Luanne]

I opened the DOT document in the link. Seems legitimate. The link I posted wasn't clickbait, but from the Hawaii Forum on Trip Advisor. I'd like to se something more convincing, but it certainly doesn't surprise me if the airlines are denying anything is amiss right now.

And very timely I got something on my Facebook feed from Konaweb. It was a posting of all of the airlines and what they had filed. There is no reference to where the info came from, but I trust it.

Stanley Yamato‎ to 40meter.net
1 hr


‎Michael Phillips‎ to Hawaii Tracker
May 1 at 9:11 PM
(updated 5/3 with new HA details for SEA flights)

Back on 4/17 I posted about airlines servicing Hawaii looking to stop service to/from Hawaii by requesting flight service exemptions from the Department of Transportation. Since then, the DOT has approved ALL requests from the airlines to suspend the flights they requested to/from Hawaii, with the last of the decisions coming in last night.

Rather than update that post, I thought I'd post this new one to clarify how long the service suspensions will last.
DOT Suspended City Service Requests:
Alaska Airlines: Service suspended through 9/30/20:
-Kahului (OGG)
-Kona (KOA)
-Lihue (LIH)

American Airlines: Service suspended through 8/18/20:
-Kahului (OGG)
-Kona (KOA)
-Lihue (LIH)

United Airlines: Service suspended through 9/30/20:
-Hilo (ITO)
-Kona (KOA)
-Kahului (OGG)
-Lihue (LIH)
Hawaiian Airlines: Service suspended through 9/30/20:
-Boston (BOS)
-Las Vegas (LAS)
-Long Beach (LGB)
-New York (JFK)
-Oakland (OAK)
-Phoenix (PHX)
-Sacramento (SMF)
-San Diego (SAN)
-San Jose (SJC)
-Seattle (SEA)**
-Kapalua / West Maui (JHM)
Hawaiian Airlines: Service suspended through 6/1/20:
-Pago Pago (PPG)


** While Hawaiian received DOT approval to stop service to Seattle, they made the decision to maintain daily service to Seattle through May 20. This change is effective April 29. The single flight/return is operated as HA21/HA22 and is likely the result of the other carriers pulling out of the market.


As a refresher, to get CARES Act funds, airlines were required to maintain service to all cities they served pre-pandemic ...or file a request with DOT to terminate service. It could take weeks or months to restore service between these cities at the end of the service suspension. It is also possible that on October 1 the airlines may drop service indefinitely/permanently. American and United's service to the outer islands and Hawaiian Airline's service to Kapalua may not return.

Beyond cutting off residents and tourists, it also seriously reduces the ability for Hawaii farms/companies to export fresh fruit/produce/fish and other perishable cargo out via air. While Hawaiian Airlines will continue limited interisland service for the time being, these changes will also impact USPS mail delivery times to/from the mainland, especially from the outer islands.
Other notes:
- Airlines have different policies when it comes to traveling with animals. If you need to travel with a pet or a support animal, be sure to double-check the policies if you need to use another carrier to get around to/from the mainland. Options are very limited now to what they were before.

- While the airlines have DOT approval to suspend service, they will be very SLOW to remove flights from their schedule and even more slow to process refunds. In some cases, airlines will continue to sell tickets on flights they have no intention of flying to/from Hawaii, only to cancel it 24-72 hours before scheduled service is due to depart. Be careful with tickets during the service suspension periods!!

 

[rickandcindy23]

I hope they do cancel our flight, so we can get the money back for our 6/6 nonstop from Denver to Kauai. We are supposed to fly back from Kauai on Alaska.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Looking at the Alaska Airlines web site, it appears they have cancelled direct service to LIH through May 30. Daily flights still show commencing May 31.

My guess is that Alaska is going to play it by ear - as long as Hawaii continues to require quarantine for arrivals they will provide service only to HNL. But as soon as travel restrictions are eased, they will be ready to ramp up operations. Right now, while restrictions are in place, the DOT decision gives them cover for eliminating service - and I'm sure that Hawai'i government fully supports cessation of service while they have quarantine requirements.

I checked one of our flights for this summer, and right now it's more than 50% occupancy (after allowing for middle seats in coach being blacked out). I think that would be a positive indicator for them - it indicates that a significant number of people are ready to travel when restrictions are lifted. I expect that Alaska Air's resumptions of service will be coordinated with Hawaii government proscriptions.

Hawaii flights are profitable for Alaska, so I'm sure they will get those flights back in operation as quickly as possible. and in consideration of demand. If demand remains low, I can see them not doing daily flights until demand picks up.

 

[Tamaradarann]

I think some of these suspension orders are to prevent airlines from losing “slots.” If routes are granted by the DOT, airlines are required to continue to fly them. Lately, the government is allowing airlines to suspend flights. It doesn’t mean they have to.

I agree with this post. Just because flights are on the suspension list does not mean that the airlines will cancel those flights. Everthing involving the government takes time and probably takes a good deal of more effort and justification than just saying you want to do something. With the opening up of everything so up in the air with the coronavirus including Hawaii having a 14 day quarantine restriction with no end in sight the airlines requested the suspension approval so that they would have the strategic flexibiltiy to cancel flights that they feel are economic losers and keep flights that are economically feasible for them. The Hawaiian Airlines Airbus 330 that we took from HNL to JFK on March 23rd had about 100 passengers it is usually full with about 350. That flight was not economically feasible for Hawaiian. We were glad since we were able to social distance on our flight home but that is not how Hawaiian Airlines wants to fly. With so much uncertainty airlines like us can't plan far in advance. They need to be able to to stay economically viable. The suspension approval gives them the flexibilty to be able strategize the future flights that take off.

However, the alert for us is that we may need to be very flexible in our plans which is not so easy with timesharing. I know I am booking two separate timeshare week sequences one starting in September and one starting in December. If Hawaiian Airlines does eventually cancel the September flight we will go in December. I am sure that by summer there will be more visibility for all of us on where we are going with this virus and the opening up of everything and we will know more.

 

[critterchick]

I think that the airlines will cancel flights on a periodic basis. Our April flights LAX-LIH were cancelled a week prior; I rebooked for June. As of last night, although I can manually enter my record locator, no details are available and neither flight is available to book on aa.com. So I will be calling to start the refund process again. if we can snag anything in September or October, I’ll try one more time. aa.com was showing nonstop to OGG last night for the same June dates, but I may have seen that before it was updated.

 

[Tamaradarann]

I think that the airlines will cancel flights on a periodic basis. Our April flights LAX-LIH were cancelled a week prior; I rebooked for June. As of last night, although I can manually enter my record locator, no details are available and neither flight is available to book on aa.com. So I will be calling to start the refund process again. if we can snag anything in September or October, I’ll try one more time. aa.com was showing nonstop to OGG last night for the same June dates, but I may have seen that before it was updated.

April was a peek month for the virus so few people were traveling and since Hawaii was in the 14 day quarantine even less were traveling there. I am sure that if Airlines didn't yet cancel flights yet they did cancelled addtional ones.

 

[controller1]

It is also possible that on October 1 the airlines may drop service indefinitely/permanently. American and United's service to the outer islands and Hawaiian Airline's service to Kapalua may not return.

Are the "outer islands" defined as any island other than Oahu? If so, I find this hard to believe as every flight I've ever taken to OGG (DFW-OGG) has been at 100% capacity.

- While the airlines have DOT approval to suspend service, they will be very SLOW to remove flights from their schedule and even more slow to process refunds. In some cases, airlines will continue to sell tickets on flights they have no intention of flying to/from Hawaii, only to cancel it 24-72 hours before scheduled service is due to depart. Be careful with tickets during the service suspension periods!!

I've not noticed this 24-72 hours prior to departure cancellations. What I've seen are cancellations made one or more weeks in advance.

 

[blondietink]

We have timeshare reservations on both Oahu and Maui for late October/November. Last week I was just checking air prices for that time period and nothing much had changed, so I looked at how many award miles I would need on American just for the fun of it. They had a web only special .... 30,000 miles round trip from Buffalo to HNL. Usually it is 40,000 miles each way. I jumped on it just because of the extremely generous cancellation policy attached. One can hope.

 

[gdrj]

I had a connection through LAX on AA Rec’d email yesterday that I have a flight change (Resv moved to an earlier flight). The flight I was on is no longer on AA site. Now just need to see if Hawaii will be open for business 6/26 and if there are more flight changes.

 

[jtp1947]

Some of those flights on AA in June and early July are 25 hours from LAX with a first stop in DFW.

 

[klpca]

I thought that our August trip to Hawaii would be far enough out to be safe, but now that we are seeing all of the various announcements such as these and what the governor of Hawaii is saying, I'm not so confident any more. Not going is a disappointment for sure, but it's the not knowing that I am finding difficult to deal with. These are definitely challenging times. If only my hobby was staying home lol. My homebody daughter has never been happier.

 

[Kapolei]

I thought that our August trip to Hawaii would be far enough out to be safe, but now that we are seeing all of the various announcements such as these and what the governor of Hawaii is saying, I'm not so confident any more. Not going is a disappointment for sure, but it's the not knowing that I am finding difficult to deal with. These are definitely challenging times. If only my hobby was staying home lol. My homebody daughter has never been happier.

The crisis has been managed well until this point in Hawaii to save the health and well being of residents. Now swift action must be taken to save the economy. My gut says we are looking at very troubling times if we don’t reopen tourism within a few months. I have no idea what they are going do. But I think some of the big players will try to get the message to the governor. Our regular tourism numbers are in the millions. There is no way we can sustain this near zero entry without some devastating consequences. Will it be August, I don’t know. But they better get a plan in place very soon or the future will be bleak.

 

[Mauiwmn]

Removed as info posted in another thread.