I meet a man on a flight to oak today .he is here to buy some of the aloha and ata aircraft to take over to the middle east. so it seems some of these aircraft are going overseas

They won't be doing overwater stuff in the near future, according to this blog entry http://www.blogsouthwest.com/?s=hawaii&x=15&y=3.

Thanks for the link. Interesting read... we'll see what happens down the road

Then why are they not doing that?

SW does not have ETOPS certification, which is required to fly from mainland U.S. to Hawaii. It isn't just a matter of buying ETOPS Jets. There is a substantial process of getting approval from the FAA. That is probably the biggest factor as to why SW is not going to Hawaii.

And they're not in much of a position to get help from the FAA right now

Who do you work for?

Getting ETOPS approval from the FAA doesn't involve getting "help." It invovles a ton of paperwork, and a lot of $. Read up on what is required to have ETOPS certification, and then contribute further to the thread.

It isn't a simple or quick process. Someone who flies ETOPS birds could chime in on the different requirements.

Read the link I posted above. It will answer all of your questions.

My guess is they don't want to spend all that $ right now.