EDITORIAL
Wider airline reach with a sinking feeling

So Aloha Airlines wants to begin service to Washington, D.C., and Hawaiian Air is bidding to serve Sidney, Australia.

Good luck to them both.

As Gov. Linda Lingle points out, as service to Hawai'i by Qantas and Air Canada has more and more bypassed our Islands, our visitor count from Down Under has dwindled.

We continue to think that traveler demand tends to determine the number of seats available, and not the other way around. But if Hawaiian flights can renew interest, that's a big plus.

The focus, naturally, is on bringing visitors from Down Under to the Islands. But there could be another advantage created by the Australia connection. Today, travelers from the West Coast face the prospect of a long, grueling direct flight.

If they knew they could break the trip with a stop in Hawai'i, they might do so, staying a few extra days here and, of course, contributing to our visitor industry.

And, if this new routing helps Hawaiian climb out of bankruptcy, even better.

Meanwhile, as Aloha bids for service between Orange County, Calif., and our nation's capital, we wonder if that company's center of gravity hasn't also shifted a bit away from our Islands.

The point is that Hawaiian and Aloha need to make their fortunes where they find them. Indeed, profitable routes to the Mainland and beyond may help shore up money-losing service here at home.

But the efforts of these airlines farther away from home leave us with a sinking feeling.

Interisland air travel is not the friendly, casual hop it once was. It's not all the airlines' fault, of course. Security concerns add to delays, and a faltering economy has forced the airlines to cut flights and alter routes.

But for many of us, it's become too time-consuming and prohibitively expensive.

As we wonder what our airlines have in store for us here at home, we can't help but notice their attention is focused thousands of miles away.