Today marks an important step in Southwest’s continued march towards flights to Hawaii from the mainland. After the delay from the government shutdown, Southwest is taking a test flight today from Oakland to Hawaii with the purpose of testing its long range capabilities over water.
Big Step Today for Southwest Flights to Hawaii with First Test Flight
This is an important step for the airline as they have not previously had to have ETOPS certification for their other destinations (ETOPS is for long range flights over water). After they clear the ETOPS certification, they will be that much closer to starting the sale of tickets for flights to Hawaii.
Southwest had planned on starting flights this past week but the government shutdown delayed that. Now, they still are shooting for a mid-March launch of those flights which will be very exciting to everyone that loves free bags, free companions(with the Southwest Companion Pass), and free changes/cancellations! Though, who wants to cancel on Hawaii?! 🙂
It is good to see Southwest moving forward and I know there are many, many people that are waiting for this. Other airlines? Not so much, even though Hawaiian Airlines says they are not worried (even with Southwest planning inter-island flights).
Source: Forbes
[…] flights from California destinations to Hawaii. According to Forbes (with a hat tip to Charlie from Running With Miles), Southwest is making a test flight today from Oakland to Kona, Hawaii, for purposes of achieving […]