Hawaiian Grows on Aloha's Misfortune

The collapse of Aloha Airlines last week has left the door open for remaining Hawaiian carriers to expand operations.  Hawaiian Airlines has announce that it will bring additional aircraft online and step up inter-island and mainland flying to help displaced passengers.  go! airlines also announced increased capacity by adding two more aircraft to its fleet.Hawaiian Ticket Counter

 Hawaiian Airlines has also stepped in an offered free mainland flights to travelers stranded by Aloha’s shutdown.  According to the airline there are still over 100 displaced passengers waiting to get to Los Angeles.  To increase inter-island capacity, Hawaiian has brought an additional Boeing 767 aircraft online to help with the spike in demand.

go! airlines, which has been credited for Aloha’s collapse, has also announced that its fleet is growing.  It will double its fleet to four aircraft and increase from 54 to 94 flights per day.  In addition, Mesa Airlines has announced that it will replace go!’s current fleet of 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft with larger 90-seat CRJ-900 aircraft.  go! is heavily subsidized by Mesa’s other operations which have taken a hit recently with the loss of a large portion of Delta Connection flying.

Although this may be a boom time for current Hawaiian operations, time will tell if they are careful enough not to create too much more capacity.  Flights were not that full before the Aloha bankruptcy, so this may just be a small spike.

Hawaiian Grows on Aloha's Misfortune

Hawaiian Ticket CounterThe collapse of Aloha Airlines last week has left the door open for remaining Hawaiian carriers to expand operations.  Hawaiian Airlines has announce that it will bring additional aircraft online and step up inter-island and mainland flying to help displaced passengers.  go! airlines also announced increased capacity by adding two more aircraft to its fleet.

 Hawaiian Airlines has also stepped in an offered free mainland flights to travelers stranded by Aloha’s shutdown.  According to the airline there are still over 100 displaced passengers waiting to get to Los Angeles.  To increase inter-island capacity, Hawaiian has brought an additional Boeing 767 aircraft online to help with the spike in demand.

go! airlines, which has been credited for Aloha’s collapse, has also announced that its fleet is growing.  It will double its fleet to four aircraft and increase from 54 to 94 flights per day.  In addition, Mesa Airlines has announced that it will replace go!’s current fleet of 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft with larger 90-seat CRJ-900 aircraft.  go! is heavily subsidized by Mesa’s other operations which have taken a hit recently with the loss of a large portion of Delta Connection flying.

Although this may be a boom time for current Hawaiian operations, time will tell if they are careful enough not to create too much more capacity.  Flights were not that full before the Aloha bankruptcy, so this may just be a small spike.

United Grounds 777 Fleet

After finding overdue inspections on fire detection systems, United Airlines grounded its entire fleet of 58 Boeing 777 aircraft.  This is the second set of maintenance related groundings for United in recent days, just last week it grounded a portion of its Airbus A320 fleet due to landing gear wiring problems.

United Airlines 777 So far United has canceled 28 of 84 flights utilizing the 777 however more cancellations are likely since the latest round of inspections includes the entire fleet.  A United spokesperson said that the inspections would likely take 24-36 hours to complete on all aircraft.  None of the aircraft are being operated while the inspections are taking place.

It is tough to tell what impact this will have on United’s operations.  The 777 is a large aircraft mainly used for international flights which generate much of United’s income and nearly all of its profit.

Faulty Wiring Found in 3 United Planes

While investigating three of its Airbus A320 aircraft, United has identified wiring problems that have led to two non-fatal runway incidents.  The first incident involved an airplane skidding off the runway at Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the second involved an aircraft skidding off the side of the runway at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.  United has said it notified contract maintenance facilities as well as pilots and flight attendants, however it has not made a statement on inspecting other aircraft.United Airlines 777
 
Although landing gear problems are serious, most issues do not result in catastrophe.  Planes land without incident most times a landing gear problem is encountered.  The most famous recent incident involved a JetBlue A320 in Los Angeles where the nose wheel was stuck sideways, thus not providing directional control for the aircraft.  The pilots successfully landed the aircraft and brought it to a stop without a single injury to passengers and with relatively little damage to the aircraft.

United now needs to dig into more of its aircraft and determine if the issue is isolated or not.  With the recent round of FAA maintenance inspections still underway, it may not be a choice soon.

United May Be Downsizing

Wednesday, United CFO Jake Brace stated that the airline could ground up to 100 airplanes that are not encumbered by creditors, including 50 737 aircraft and at least 13 other narrow-body (single aisle) aircraft. This would equate to a decline of almost 20% in United’s fleet size, which currently numbers 460 aircraft.

The grounding would be an attempt to offset rising oil costs by reducing capacity and eliminating as many empty seats as possible on certain routes. Currently, United is planning a 1% reduction in capacity for the next year, however Brace says those predictions were made when oil was near $75 per barrel and that any increases in oil prices would cause the airline to re-evaluate its capacity.
While all of the planned capacity reductions are on the domestic side, United intends to offset by increasing its more lucrative international markets. International seats typically sell for prices in the thousands of dollars, creating a higher profit margin for the airline.

In addition to the 460 aircraft United operates, the company also controls 290 regional aircraft flown by outside contractors. It is unknown if these contractors would replace grounded airplanes with smaller aircraft, or if reduction in partner flying would be implemented.

DayJet Disillusion

According to Air Transport Weekly, yesterday was the first day of operations for Florida based DayJet. DayJet is a new startup aimed at selling individual seats on small jets point-to-point in Florida. It claims that it will have over 300 jets in the next few years and will offer dozens of travel options.

This sounds great in theory and PR but will have a tough time making it in the market. Clients charter private jets and smaller business aircraft usually to take a small group of people from one location to the other and to conduct business while traveling. Using the traditional charter model, clients rent the entire aircraft for a set hourly rate, usually between $500 to upwards of $9000 per hour. The aircraft is theirs and can take them wherever they wish to go, in privacy and luxury.

Conversely, the DayJet aircraft seat 4 passengers in a space which ensures you will get to know your fellow passengers very well. In addition, filling 4 seats on the aircraft takes away the luxury of traveling in your own aircraft and the privacy of being able to do business while in the sky. To get an idea of the size , take your average mid-size sedan, turn the front seats around to face the back, and that’s about how large the passenger area in an Eclipse 500 Jet is. Oh, and there’s no lavatory either, so I hope you went before you left.

According to DayJet, the rates will be just above the average “Y” or economy fares found on most airlines, which puts them near the first class fare mark of most carriers who discount seats. If you want to book travel closer to your departure date the DayJet fares increase to those equal to or greater than full-fare first class.

The idea is that passengers willing to pay for this service don’t want to make a connection in their flight itinerary. However when your DayJet ticket starts costing as much as chartering smaller airplane all to yourself, the charter may win.