Was Hawaii a beneficiary of some special treatment from the Federal Aviation Administration, when the new Southwest Airlines service was launched? Possibly, and that’s now under investigation by the federal Office of the Special Counsel.

The Wall Street Journal reported about a whistleblower’s complaint that rushed approvals helped the airline — and brought another carrier to the market.

This is unrelated to the troubles with the Boeing jet, but if this complaint exposes another weakness in FAA safety oversight, that won’t be a good deal for Hawaii — or anyone.

All that fun in the sun comes at a cost

During 2019, Hawaii hotels had the nation’s top average daily hotel rate — $283, up by 3% over 2018, according to the just-released Hawaii Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Among the runners-up: New York City, $255; and San Francisco/San Mateo, $251. Despite the top U.S. market rates, all three also led the year’s occupancy list, with New York at at 86% followed by San Francisco/San Mateo at 82% and Hawaii at 81.2%.

In the report’s ranking of “competitive sun and sea destinations,” including international hot spots, French Polynesia had the year’s highest average daily rate — a whopping $566.