Posted on: Thursday, February 3, 2005

Hawaiian Air to assign all interisland seats

By Jaymes Song
Associated Press

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. for the first time will eliminate its open-seating policy on interisland flights and begin assigning all seats beginning next month, the company said yesterday.

Hawaiian, the state's largest interisland carrier, said the change will make boarding more orderly and efficient for its passengers on its 700 interisland flights each week. "We want a hassle-free experience for Hawaiian's customers, and that means they shouldn't have to wait in line just to make sure they get the seat they want," said Blaine Miyasato, Hawaiian's vice president of customer services.

The reserved assigned seating is a dramatic shift in how residents and visitors travel between the Hawaiian Islands.

Currently, passengers awaiting their 25- to 45-minute flights to other islands line up at the gates well before boarding the aircraft and sit in any seat past the first-class section.

With the new system, Hawaiian's Premier and Pualani club members will be assigned seats closer to the front of the aircraft, the company said.

Aloha Airlines Inc. said it has no plans to assign seats on its interisland flights.

"For short interisland flights, we think it should be local style — first come, first served," Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman said.