Originally Posted by
WhaleSurfing
Unfortunately the flying public has voted consistently for the past couple of decades that all they care about is the rock bottom price tag, save perhaps the business traveler or upper end passenger.
Southwest's rise, and now Spirit's meteoric expansion is proof positive of this fact. Any dollar saved on the miserable experience of air travel is a dollar that can be spent elsewhere on vacation. The ULCC sector is proof positive of this.
It is very difficult to disagree with this. Saving some cash is a priority even for many of the upper middle or upper class.
My only rebuttal would be that for many, Hawaii is a once in a lifetime vacation/honeymoon etc. Who wants to start their dream vacation off being miserable?
It is also a very expensive place to visit. Food, lodging, or visiting multiple islands is much more expensive than say Florida or Vegas.( And in general our tourists are a bit higher up on the totem poll than typical Florida vacationers) And due to the limited lodging options it's not like you can just find a Motel 8 for $35... A crappy airport hotel at the HNL airport runs around $180/night for example. Hawaii is not a vacation destination for the low end vacationers trying to do a budget vacation. IE: your typical Spirit passenger. (not a knock on Spirit just a generalization)
If you're taking this once in a lifetime vacation/honeymoon, you may spend the extra $$ for a flight on a more traditional airline with more perks. In Hawaiian's case, an authentic experience where the FA's can actually give you real tips or pronounce locations and names correctly. An airline that makes you feel like your vacation has started at your departure airport. (a little overly dramatic, just making a point).
On Hawaiian it's very common to hear the Hawaiian Language spoken, and spoken correctly. Sure you may get an Aloha or Mahalo on SWA, hell even Spirit, but for a real local experience it's Hawaiian or nothing.
I've traveled in the back on every airline, and although I am biased, the experience on Hawaiian is for the most part better. I know SWA is entertaining at times, for me, I'd grow tired of corny jokes ad nauseum.
Based on the pure size of SWA, they will be able to flood the market. It's whether or not they intend to really make money over here is the question. Or can they make more money in a different market? Because West Coast-Hawaii is a low yield market to begin with.
If they put a crew base out here, and base 15-20 interisland dedicated a/c here, then all bets are off.. But what many of the pilots at SWA haven't witnessed yet is our astounding lack of gate space on all islands.
I think we'll be fine, the Facebook posters of the world are all up in arms about some $30 inter-island ticket that they somehow cannot find because the sale was for maybe 2 days and they sold out quickly. And many comments have turned negative because they've noticed higher fares on SWA vs HA for the remaining seats. Nobody is saying they want to ride on SWA, they are more excited that fares on HA, AK, or UA may drop a bit.
Bottom line, flying on Hawaiian vs SWA are two completely different business models.