A Southwest Airlines interisland challenge? Hawaiian Airlines is probably concerned but hardly quaking in its boots.

Mounting a truly competitive inter- island operation requires the resources be in Hawaii, not flowed through from the mainland. That means a fleet of eight to 10 aircraft based in Hawaii, a maintenance facility and extensive dedicated airport space. Southwest also will need a large staff of flight crew, maintenance, airport, sales and administrative personnel.

And fares? There is a lot less room than the public thinks to cut fares.

Then there is the aircraft. The 737-8 is a little big; Hawaiian flies the smaller 717 for a reason.

Finally there is the market. Before direct mainland flights to the neighbor islands, there was a robust visitor-connecting market to and from Honolulu. Today the key market will be Hawaii residents and I would expect a loyalty bias to Hawaiian Air.

In sum, Hawaii is about a 1-1/2 airline market.

Jim King

Waikiki

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