Hawaiian's future flies on new 717s

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

It almost put too fine a point on it, the ancient cargo plane roaring its propellers on the tarmac as Hawaiian Airlines chairman Paul Casey struggled over the din to introduce the spanking new Boeing 717 behind him.

Even though the 717 is a small plane built for short-haul flights, its spacious storage bins and seat configuration make it feel much larger. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

The single Boeing 717 that Hawaiian Airlines began flying last week marks a new era in interisland travel.

It is the first new type of jet to be introduced to the market in more than 30 years, promising cost savings for the airline and greater comfort — including fewer delays — for passengers. Before the end of the year, it will be joined by 12 more of its kind at Hawaiian, making the airline's creaky DC-9s fodder for The Antiques Roadshow.

"You're going to see a new, quiet aircraft out there, which is going to give high reliability," said Robert Agnew, of Virginia-based airline consultancy Morten Beyer & Agnew.

Hawaiian has invested $430 million in the planes. Casey said he is expecting the return to be worth it.

Over the years, maintenance costs for the DC-9 kept rising, while the reliability of the nearly 25-year-old planes kept dropping, sometimes sidelining two or more a day and causing delays that rippled through the system. The lumbering old aircraft also are gas guzzlers by today's standards, and skyrocketing fuel prices have been squeezing company earnings.

If the 717's performance at other airlines, such as AirTran Airways, is any indication, Hawaiian could save more than 20 percent on fuel, and more than 50 percent on maintenance.

"We were expecting 18 percent better fuel burn than the DC9, and we're getting 24 percent," said AirTran president Robert Fornaro. "That's good news when fuel's a dollar a gallon."

AirTran also has shaved about 60 percent from its maintenance costs, Fornaro said.

Hawaiian will sell the 10 DC-9s it owns, said spokesman Keoni Wagner; the five that the company leases will be returned to their owners.

Despite Hawaiian's anticipated savings, passengers won't be getting a break on their interisland tickets.

"They will not be (seeing savings) because it's sort of no secret that we've not made very much money in the interisland market in the last 10 years," Casey said. "And the planes are very expensive."

Amenities but not leg room

But, if it's any consolation, passengers will get overhead storage bins that are the same size as on a 747, a help to travelers who are actually transferring from a 747 to go to a Neighbor Island. The bins can accommodate three rollaway suitcases instead of two as on the DC-9, which should spare at least a few travelers the use of baggage claim. Fliers also will get lighted handrails, a stirrup under each seat to help with that long reach into the back of the bin "for your teddy bear," Wagner says, and adjustable reading lights.

Because the 717s will require less maintenance than their predecessors, analysts and Casey said they also should cut down on flight delays and cancellations.

What passengers won't get is more leg room. The plane's 115 economy seats will give travelers 31 inches of space, the same as the DC-9. First-class passengers will actually lose a little wiggle room — down to 37 inches from 42 on the DC-9s.

Hawaiian rival Aloha Airlines is still observing the market before choosing a replacement for the company's roughly 16-year-old fleet of 737-200s.

"We've been looking at a replacement for some time," said Aloha chief executive Glenn Zander. "We're in a little different situation than Hawaiian was in that their DC-9 fleet was substantially older than our 737 fleet, so they had an impetus to replace them because of the maintenance costs and the age."

Zander added that freight is also a large part of Aloha's business. It carried 140.2 million freight pounds interisland last year, so a plane that could be converted into a freighter is useful, he said.

Best short-haul jet in world

The 717 was designed specifically to replace the DC-9 and 100-seat aircraft like it, according to The Boeing Co.

At 124-feet long with a wing span of 93 feet, it is similar in size to the DC-9. Although the 717 can fly more than 1,600 miles nonstop, it was designed primarily for short-haul distances, such as the 120-mile average flights found between Hawai'i's islands. According to Boeing, the 717 also can withstand eight to 12 flights a day, and can be turned around and sent back out slightly quicker than the DC-9s, in about 20 to 25 minutes.

"We think it's the best short-haul 100-passenger jet in the world," said Casey. "It's a rugged airplane, very fuel efficient, the right number of seats. ... This airplane came up head and shoulders above the others."

But the plane has caught on slowly in the industry, and for a while plane spotters worried the 717 program might be canceled. According to Boeing spokesman Warren Lamb, 154 of the 717s have been delivered or are on order. Orders have been placed by 10 airlines or leasing companies in seven countries.

AirTran Airways, the first airline to start flying the plane in October 1999, currently has 18 in its fleet and expects to replace its 37 remaining DC-9s and 737s with it by 2005. After the savings on fuel and maintenance, Fornaro said, the best thing about the plane is that passengers love it.

"We're getting a lot of accolades from customers," Fornaro says. "It's got large overhead bins, it's got a feeling of a much bigger airplane than the DC-9. It's much more open."

Fornaro added that as the first taker for the plane, AirTran spent a lot time working out "all the little bugs."

"Generally speaking, all airplanes go through an improvement cycle during the first year," he said. "So the company that gets the same plane a couple of years down the line has some of the bugs worked out."

Hawaiian president and chief operating officer Robert Zoller, who was at AirTran when it was bringing in the 717, said he estimates roughly 200 changes were made that will benefit Hawaiian.

Perhaps the people happiest about the plane are the pilots, who coo over their new machines. .

"It took me about three seconds to really fall in love with it," said Capt. Jim Giddings.

The DC-9s forced pilots to keep their eyes on six different dials at a time — dials with needles that indicated pitch of the plane and other vital attributes. The 717 consolidates all that information onto a single LCD screen, Giddings said, and graphically illustrates the plane's position at all times. It also offers moving maps, and a ground proximity warning system that urgently yells "Pull up! Pull up!" when terrain is too close.

While the greater reliability — and pilots add "safety" — promised by the 717 might be good for travelers, the 300 mechanics who worked on the DC-9 may not be as enthusiastic. Some say they are worried that less maintenance will mean fewer jobs.

Casey said the company, which has been in contract talks with the mechanics' union for about a year, is looking for ways to use the mechanics rather than lay them off.

Michele Kayal can be reached by phone at 525-8024, or by e-mail at mkayal@honoluluadvertiser.com.