Hawaiian ends paper tickets
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
The shift to electronic ticketing for interisland service is part of a larger effort to make the high-frequency service viable, said John W. Adams, Hawaiian chairman and chief executive officer, in a release issued yesterday.
"Coupons are the legacy of another era in Hawai'i, when local carriers used them to build market share and raise cash. But they've outlived their purpose," he said.
"The trouble is, the system has never produced profits in the interisland market, and in everyone's best interest the time has come for us to change that."
Existing coupons will be honored.
Hawaiian has almost entirely eliminated paper tickets for its Mainland and international flights. Inter-island travelers will now benefit from conveniences such as instant online booking and ticketing, automated airport services and the convenience of not having to keep track of paper tickets, Adams said, though paper tickets will still be available for a $25 fee.
Stu Glauberman, spokes-man for Aloha Airlines, said that airline is studying the issue.
"We've put out a fare initiative a month ago that is actually lower than coupons," Glauberman said. "We're encouraging people to buy those."
Aloha has been using the popular e-ticket system for a couple of years, he said, and it issues tickets online.
Adams said Hawaiian had accelerated its conversion to ticketless interisland travel because "The problem of financial sustainability in the interisland air transportation system has become urgent.
"In the midst of the worst economic crisis our industry has ever seen, we are working to achieve a delicate balance between providing the services our island communities need and protecting our financial stability as a provider of those services."
Hawaiian's published interisland fares begin at $66 for ticketing until seven days before departure and $70 at least three days before departure. Coupons cost $72.
The airline has installed eight new self-service check-in kiosks at its Honolulu terminal and plans to install them at all its Hawai'i airport locations during the next six months.
Later this year, Hawaiian plans to introduce technology that will allow customers to check in from home or office before heading to the airport, as well as a debit card that will allow frequent fliers to "bank" flights much as prepaid phone cards bank minutes.
