New Airline Starts Interisland Service
HONOLULU — New airline Go! began a schedule of interisland flights on Friday as an airfare war rages between the newcomer and its competitors.
Chris Barth and his family flew in one of Go!’s first flights from Maui on Friday morning. He said that it was an enjoyable trip because the price was right.
“Three-hundred dollars. The four of us got over here; normally it would cost us about $850 or $900. So, it’s great,” Barth said.
Go! is banking on the fact that the Barths won’t be the only ones who feel that way.
“(We want to) do something for the commuter, which just hasn’t been done in a long time — give them affordable air service between the islands,” Go! Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ornstein said.
Ornstein personally greeted and thanked every passenger on the first flight to land on Oahu on Friday.
“Operationally, things went great. Planes are just about full. They were on time,” Ornstein said.
Ornstein said the airline, whose parent company is Mesa Airline, is here to stay, unlike others who have come and gone before.
“We’re not a start-up. We’ve been around for 25 years,” Ornstein said.
The $19 one-way tickets are just temporary, but the low ticket prices aren’t, Ornstein said.
“We think that the $39 fares will be around for a long time. We can do this. Mesa is a big company. We’ve got over a billion dollars in revenue — $300 million in the bank,” Ornstein said.
That sounds good to travelers like the Barths.
So far, Go! has flights from Honolulu to Lihue, Kahului, Hilo, Kona and back.
Go!’s low prices sparked an airfare war. Hawaiian Airlines matched Go!’s prices. Aloha Airlines gave away 1,000 free round-trip tickets on Friday.
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