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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, December 19, 2003

Hawaiian tops in nation for on-time flights

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian Airlines' on-time arrival performance for the first 10 months of the year made it No. 1 in the nation, the airline announced yesterday.

Hawaiian had more than 92 percent of its flights arrive within 15 minutes of schedule, putting it ahead of Skywest, Southwest and United airlines.

The No. 1 ranking capped a turbulent year for Hawaiian, which filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection in March, had a series of leadership changes and has seen pilots angry over missed pension payments and other issues.

At the same time, Hawaiian's performance as an airline has been remarkable.

It's had five consecutive months of profits and been ranked the No. 1 domestic carrier by Conde' Nast Traveler magazine for meals and cabin service. A poll of Travel + Leisure readers also rated Hawaiian as the fourth-best U.S. airline.

The on-time arrival ranking is based on voluntary filings that airlines report to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The analysis by Honolulu market research firm Q-Mark Research & Polling covers 40,000 Hawaiian flights and 4.6 million passengers through October.

The research showed that Hawaiian had 92.1 percent of its flights arrive within the U.S. Department of Transportation's 15-minute definition of "on time."

On-time performance is particularly critical for an airline that flies most of its trips one after another, said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and chief operating officer.

"What makes this achievement even more impressive is that most of our flights are back-to-back, 20- to 30-minute trips between the Islands with only 25 minutes on the ground," Dunkerley said. "So if an earlier flight is delayed it creates a domino effect that can affect departures for the rest of the day."

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