Given all the airlines who have flights to Hawaii, a huge leisure destination, is Hawaii the right choice for an airline such as Southwest Airlines?

I think it is.  Make no mistake, the market that Southwest would enter into after such a decision is the incredibly competitive West Coast to Hawaii market but I think Southwest could offer something that even the experienced airlines can’t. 

Exceptional service and better than average comfort in economy class.  Let’s leave out the idea of flying there in Business Class on your airline points.  It’s irrelevant to earning revenue.  Instead, let’s consider the economy class service of airlines serving Hawaii.  The cheap seats that people *buy* to go on a vacation.

You can bet that Southwest can offer a better than average experience to Hawaii and I think they can do it profitably with the 737-800 and very profitably with 737-MAX8 aircraft. 

Will we see it this year? No.  In fact, I would argue that it’s unlikely we’ll see it in 2013 but I do think we’ll see it in 2014 and I think that, like most SWA efforts on new routes, it will be done in a way that will be both highly efficient and highly rewarding to a customer. 

Consider that a flight from LAX to Honolulu isn’t any farther than some of Southwest’s trans-continental flights today and that their choice of aircraft can and will permit them to offer no bag charges for the first 2 bags.  Their seating is more generous than average and their flight crews are generally happy to see you and serve you.  Better yet, SWA frequent flier members can use their points for a *value* oriented flight to Hawaii that based on points values probably will seem frugal compared to many airlines.

That’s a powerful recipe for success.

Filed under: Airline Service by ajax
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