Things in the Sky

A few days ago I posted about Hawaiian increasing their fleet capacity a bit. Well today more good news came out, as Hawaiian released their May traffic numbers, and they were quite good, most likely due to the collapse of ATA and Aloha’s passenger service. Compared to May 2007, last month saw a 26.9% increase in traffic.  And when January to May 2007 is compared to the current year-to-date number, traffic is up 13.3%. Not bad.

But that doesn’t mean everything is great for Hawaiian, either, as they have their own problems ahead of them. First, due to rising fares (and greater personal expenses in some cases), travelers will have to rethink their plans. Leisure travel could defintely be the first thing to go when one is trying to adjust his or her personal budget. Second, Hawaiian may see some more competition, as United, even though it is making huge capcity cuts in many markets, is planning to add Hawaii flights, according to one source.