Lull in air travel expected on Sept. 11 anniversary

By Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writer

With the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks less than two months away, advance bookings from many airlines show passenger volume is down for that day.

But although at least one carrier is reducing some flights within the Mainland routes on Sept. 11, flights between Hawai'i and the Mainland are not likely to be cut, several airline officials said. And travelers willing to fly during September may be able to take advantage of discounts offered for flying during the period.

United Airlines is limiting the number of flights on some of its busiest Mainland routes on Sept. 11, but has no plans to cut Hawai'i flights that day, a spokesman said yesterday.

"We are making adjustments (on peak Mainland routes), just in recognition that there will be a little less demand that day," said Joe Hopkins, United's media relations manager. "Having said that, we will still be operating the bulk of our schedule. And for those people that need to travel that day, we will be there to meet their needs."

The anticipated lack of passengers on Sept. 11 comes at a difficult time for the airline industry, which lost billions of dollars with the drastic drop in business after last year's attacks. Because it follows the peak summer vacation season, September is traditionally a slow month for the airlines anyway, industry experts say. To stimulate travel during this time, several carriers have launched fare sales for trips during the period.

Aloha is offering a special fare of $299 roundtrip, not including taxes and fees, for travel during September between Hawai'i and several West Coast destinations. A typical Honolulu-West Coast roundtrip fare in September would be $441, including taxes and fees, a spokesman said.

The special is partly in response to recent fare sales by some airlines that did not include Hawai'i, Aloha spokes-man Stu Glauberman said. He also said, "It's fair to say that this (fare sale) is in anticipation of some softness in the market in September, because it's the time when some passengers may be leery of flying because of the 9/11 anniversary."

Hawaiian Airlines is not seeing any "noticeable trend toward booking away from

Sept. 11," said spokesman Keoni Wagner. "We're still over a month and a half away, and in modern terms that's still a little ways out, but so far there's nothing unusual beyond the normal softness in the fall for September."

To stimulate travel during the fall season, Hawaiian has been offering a $399 roundtrip fare for travel to Hawai'i from the West Coast, Wagner said. Hawaiian also matched recent Hawai'i-Mainland sale fares by some U.S. carriers, with the round-trip fare for a mid-week departure between Honolulu and Los Angeles starting at $434 for travel now through Oct. 1, Wagner said.

American Airlines, the No. 2 trans-Pacific carrier to Hawai'i after United, is also reporting a decline in reservations for travel throughout its system on Sept. 11, spokesman Todd Burke said. But the airline has made no changes to its schedule, he said.

Continental has seen a systemwide "softening in travel" for the week surrounding Sept. 11, Ron Wright, managing director of Continental-Hawai'i, said in a statement.

"It's too early to tell the direct impact on bookings and our schedule, if necessary, will be adjusted accordingly," he said.

Nevertheless, Wright said, bookings to Hawai'i remain strong for the fall season, and Continental expects to go ahead in October with plans to add 48 seats to one of its two daily nonstop flights between Houston and Honolulu by replacing a Boeing 767-400 with a new Boeing 777.

Tom Renville, United's managing director for Hawai'i, said the slowdown in bookings on Sept. 11 includes United's flights between Japan and Hawai'i. Discounts on fares may help bring back passengers, he said, but more passengers traveling at lower fares will help the financially strapped industry only so much.

"Our industry is in a tough spot because yields are already a problem," he said.

Reach Susan Hooper at 525-8064 or shooper@honoluluadvertiser.com.