About Hawaii Airlines and Interisland Hawaii Travel

Update, Early 2008 - Aloha Airlines is out of business - bankrupt. They couldn't compete with Go! in the mix. Now, Go! Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are the only two major Interisland carriers available. Go!'s planes are smaller but that is about the only major difference, imo.

Update, July 2006 - The newest airline in Hawaii, Go! airlines, has smaller planes and much more reasonable rates than the other two. It has created an airfare war and current prices are as low as $39 one way. Fantastic! I flew Go! in recently and wrote a review.

Flight Operations
Go! and Hawaiian Airlines are the two major Hawaii Airlines, Hawaiian having been around for decades. Both conduct several daily flights connecting each of the main Hawaiian islands. These flights are generally referred to as interisland flights. Hawaiian airlines also has flights to and from some western U.S. cities like Sacramento and Las Vegas. Historically, I have not seen these prices much lower than what you can get on other airlines like Continental or Delta, but you can save money if you are flying to Maui or another outer island and Hawaiian gets you there directly, where another airline might have to drop you at Honolulu and pay for your interisland hop.

The planes in use by both major Hawaii airlines are usually the medium size or a bit smaller jets, such as the Boeing 737, however, if you are flying to Molokai or Lanai, or sometimes even Maui, you may be placed on a propeller aircraft that seats 37 or less people. If that is an issue, be sure to check with your airline.

In my opinion, there is not much difference between Hawaiian and Go!'s flights. Both airlines have a similar amount of flights to all the islands. Both airlines take the same routes with similar flight times, and visit the same airports within the islands. Flight prices are also extremely similar. If you are booking your own flights, you should choose the airline with the most convenient flight for your plans.

Either way, your best prices will probably be found at the website. If you are looking for the aloha flight coupons that both Aloha and Hawaiian airlines used to offer, they have been discontinued.