Island Air, which reduced neighbor island service earlier this year, is now looking for creative ways to bring back customers.

The state’s third-largest airline said that as part of its 35th-anniversary celebration, it will waive fees on the first checked bags for kamaaina during November. Normally, Island Air charges $15 for a first checked bag and $25 for a second checked bag. A second checked bag during November still will cost $25.

Island Air’s promotion will run concurrently with a test program that the carrier began in October which allows students enrolled at University of Hawaii campuses on Oahu and Maui to fly standby for $35 each way on those islands as well as Lanai.

“Our local communities have been incredibly supportive of Island Air over the past 35 years, and this (free first checked bag) is one more way we can say ‘mahalo’ while we continue to provide value to our kamaaina,” Island Air CEO Dave Pflieger said in a statement released today.

Island Air, which through June had lost nearly $40.8 million since being purchased by billionaire Larry Ellison in February 2013, announced in April it was consolidating its operations to a smaller number of markets so it can fix its cost and revenue structure and become strong enough to grow in a sustainable manner. The reduction in service left Island Air with just 3.4 percent of the interisland market in June and allowed Mokulele Airlines to take over second place with a 3.5 percent market share. Hawaiian Airlines is first at 92 percent, according to state Department of Transportation data.

Island Air was founded in 1980 as Princeville Airways and renamed in 1992.