Posted on: Friday, May 10, 2002

Aloha adds three daily flights

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Aloha Airlines is adding flights to the Mainland and Canada in another expansion move since its failed merger with Hawaiian Airlines. Advertiser library photo

Aloha Airlines will add three daily flights to Maui from Burbank, Calif., Phoenix, and Vancouver, British Columbia, as a flurry of route expansion and hiring continues at Aloha and Hawaiian airlines since their planned merger failed in March.

The daily flights mean Aloha will rehire all of the workers it furloughed after Sept. 11, spokesman Stu Glauberman said, and will probably add pilots and flight attendants.

The airline also said it will buy three Boeing 737-700 aircraft for the flights.

Despite a continued weak interisland market and a sluggish economy, both airlines have aggressively expanded their routes as they try to regroup and survive since the merger failed.

Aloha's Phoenix-to-Kahului route, via Orange County, will begin July 2. A nonstop flight from Vancouver to Maui starts Nov. 1. And the nonstop Burbank flights begin Feb. 1.

In April, Aloha announced daily service from Honolulu to Burbank, beginning June 1, and to Vancouver, starting June 15.

Aloha's new 737-700s, which have 12 first-class and 112 coach seats, bring the size of the carrier's fleet of extended-range 737-700s to 10, twice the number it operated a year ago.

Hawaiian also has announced a series of new flights, including a Seattle-to-Maui nonstop and nonstop routes to Honolulu from Sacramento and Ontario, Calif., and Phoenix. Starting next month, Hawaiian will offer daily nonstop flights to Maui from San Francisco and Los Angeles.