Southwest starts test flights to enter Hawaii market

Rock-concert-like cheers greeted Southwest Airlines at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Tuesday upon completion of its first test flight — a major finishing step in the company’s long-awaited entry into the Hawaii market.

Southwest announced last year that it initially plans to fly to Hawaii from the California cities of San Diego, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento and then add interisland routes that include Maui, Hawaii island and Kauai.

The carrier had anticipated flying sometime in February, but the government shutdown delayed Federal Aviation Administration regulators from completing the certification process. Southwest Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said during a January earnings call that if the FAA got started again in February, it would probably be another month before the carrier got its certificate and could sell tickets. Kelly speculated it would be another month beyond that before it was flying here.

Tuesday’s test run evaluated navigation and communication systems for the 175-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft, its initial aircraft for Hawaii service. It was only the first of what could be a half-dozen or so trial flights that make up the final stages of what is typically a 12- to 18-month approval process.

But judging from the enthusiasm exhibited at the test flight, Southwest already would be flying here if the decision were just up to the carrier and its staff.Southwest already has hired 44 employees to service Oahu and 35 to service Maui, and has said that it will ramp up staff as its Hawaii service expands.

Larry Fisher, a ramp agent who has spent the past 24 years working for Southwest in Las Vegas, said that he used his seniority to get transferred back to his hometown.

“Southwest’s entry into Hawaii offers a lot of us that moved away the opportunity to come home, and it offers the people at home more flying options,” said Fisher, who returned home about three weeks ago. “Being able to move back home is amazing. It’s still surreal, but today’s flight made it all so real.”

Del Tauaese, another Hawaii expat who had been on the mainland, was so happy to return to his home state that tears rolled down his face during the test landing.

“I was a big crybaby when I saw the plane,” said Tauaese, who is now Southwest’s Maui station manager. “When I heard Southwest was coming to Hawaii, I immediately put in for a transfer. I was gone 25 years. Being able to be home and serving Hawaii is a dream come true. We’re ready.”

The state Department of Transportation said it’s ready, too. Southwest’s expansion into Hawaii dovetails with completion of the Honolulu airport’s G-gates improvements. That project, along with the coming completion of a new Mauka Concourse, will add the most gate capacity to the Honolulu airport since Terminal 1 was built in the mid-1990s, said Tim Sakahara, state DOT spokesman.

Sakahara said the $26 million in improvements to the G-gates will accommodate the arrival of new airlines, including Southwest. The new waiting area will feature charging stations, rest- rooms, an escalator and an elevator. A Starbucks and Kona Brewery will be among the dining and shopping choices.

Upon approval, Southwest is slated to use G-gates 7-10 and baggage claims 26-31 in the Diamond Head Concourse in Terminal 2. The Southwest Airlines ticket lobby, which was paid for by the carrier, will be in Lobby 6 in Terminal 2. Southwest also intends to use its own funds to complete ticket counter and office space improvements at Kahului Airport, Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole, and Lihue Airport.

Sakahara said the four new G-gates will bring the Honolulu airport’s gate count to 58. Gate capacity will grow further when the state completes the Mauka Concourse, which is expected to be a $200 million project.

Sakahara said the Mauka Concourse, which is slated to be completed at the end of 2020, could add six wide-body airplane gates, 11 narrow-body airplane gates or a combination.

The airport gate improvements are part of a larger airport modernization project, which is needed to meet growing traveler volume and expectations.

Sakahara said the Honolulu airport loads and unloads about 50,000 passengers from planes daily. He said about 20 million people annually come in and out of the airport and that the statewide airport system handles some 37 million people.