Hawaii

[rlm1951]

It's July 1st. When is Southwest going to announce flights for Hawaii? I'm going in February and would rather fly Southwest than the alternatives, but just being told to wait isn't going to work for much longer. 

Any answers?

[dfwskier]

At this point we only know that SW will eventually fly to Honolulu , Kahului , Lihue  and Kona    in Hawaii from  Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose (probably not all 4 mainland cities to all 4 in Hawaii, but time will tell).

SW's  CEO Gary Kelly has said Southwest will start small, with just one route between the West Coast and one destination in Hawaii. 

All speculation has been that service would start late 2018 or early 2019.

Put all of that together for you, and you'd have to be lucky to have SW fly to your destination by February, 2019

[rtbarron]

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@rlm1951 wrote:

It's July 1st. When is Southwest going to announce flights for Hawaii? I'm going in February and would rather fly Southwest than the alternatives, but just being told to wait isn't going to work for much longer. 

Any answers?

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Also, remember that the answer to your question isn't entirely within Southwest's control. Part of the holdup is due to getting the necessary approvals from the U.S. government, including Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards ("ETOPS") approval from the FAA.

The fact that Southwest posted the Honolulu Station Manager job on their careers website last week is an indication that plans are moving ahead and an announcement may be coming soon. Be patient for just a little bit longer.

[chgoflyer]

Best guess is tickets on sale later this year, with service beginning sometime in 2019.

Other carriers are currently having fare wars for Hawaii, likely trying to snatch up all the demand in light of Southwest's slow movement -- you should check them out. It's very unlikely Southwest will offer anything like the fares seen now. (IMHO, Hawaii will be very challenging for Southwest.)

[kyderr]

I am planning my honeymoon for November, and I am just about to click on United, but I don't want to.  I wish I had some certaintly to make a decision. But I would have to fly from the East coast, and Fares on southwest are already over $500 just to get to california. Perhaps I can't wait any longer.

[rtbarron]

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@kyderr wrote:

I am planning my honeymoon for November, and I am just about to click on United, but I don't want to.  I wish I had some certaintly to make a decision. But I would have to fly from the East coast, and Fares on southwest are already over $500 just to get to california. Perhaps I can't wait any longer.

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For something as important as a honeymoon, I'd go ahead and book on United. You won't get legendary Southwest service but at least you'll have peace of mind.