Aloha to increase its online discount

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Beginning Monday, Aloha Airlines' Aloha Pass customers who book inter-island flights online will get an additional discount on fares. But the size of the discount is yet to be announced.

Aloha president and chief executive, Glenn Zander, disclosed the new online fare program at a private meeting yesterday with legislators from the Big Island. They also discussed complaints about fare costs and the difficulty in getting seats on certain interisland routes.

After a meeting that lasted nearly an hour, Zander declined to specify the size of the discounts other than to say they will be in addition to Aloha's usual 5 percent online discount.

"I think people will really like it when they see it," he said.

The discounts will be available to members of the Aloha Pass program, which people can join for free. There will be no penalties or change fees, Zander said.

The legislators from the Big Island, along with the House committees on tourism and finance, asked for yesterday's meeting in response to growing complaints about difficulties in interisland travel since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

What once had been a relatively inexpensive and efficient way to travel between islands has become known for tightened security, higher prices and fewer flights. Round trip fares can now cost more than $200. And tourists on Maui who want to fly to Hilo have to fly to Honolulu and catch a second flight to the Big Island, said Rep. Jerry Chang, D-2nd (Hilo).

Zander said tourists essentially had been subsidizing the relatively low cost of interisland travel before Sept. 11. As for travel to the Big Island, Aloha's flights to Hilo have only a 75 percent load factor, the lowest in the company, Zander said.

Kona's 83 percent load factor is the highest.

Aloha officials had been considering the upcoming fares before the meeting with legislators, Zander said.

"It's something we have been studying for some time, actually," he said. "It was in the process."

Chang said the Big Island legislators are "very gratified that Aloha Airlines has come in with this news today."

The legislators hope to schedule a similar meeting sometime next week with officials from Hawaiian Airlines and later with the new owners of Island Air who will close a deal to buy the commuter air operation from Aloha Airlines on March 1.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.