News
Hawaiian cancels routes due to GTF delays
March 2nd 2018
Hawaiian Airlines this week said it had no choice but to cancel two planned route additions this year in the face of anticipated Pratt & Whitney (P&W) geared turbofan (GTF)-powered A321neo delivery delays. Read More »
The Honolulu-based carrier will no longer offer a second daily Honolulu-San Francisco flight and it will not launch a new Kona-Oakland route. Moreover, it has postponed Lihue-Oakland from April 11 to July 15.
Hawaiian has 16 A321neo in its books; two have been delivered thus far, with one having been taken out of service for checks from February 9 through to February 16.
Separately, uncertainty also remains regarding the future of Hawaiian’s order for six A330-800neo. Last week, several media reports suggested the carrier had cancelled that order in favour of an identical number of B787-9s, but Hawaiian is denying the reports.
“The A330-800 order has not been cancelled,” the airline said this week. “What we have said is that it is well-known that we have been negotiating with Boeing and Airbus for the next addition to our fleet. We have not signed an agreement with either manufacturer,” it added.
Hawaiian is the only airline to have ordered the -800neo. The airline has previously gone on record saying it would be difficult to retain the order due to anticipated challenges in spare part acquisition and servicing.
The first A330-800neo prototype rolled out of the paint shop on February 5 this year, “on track for its first flight mid-2018,” according to Airbus. The base variant will have a 242-tonne MTOW and a range of 7,500nm; the recently launched 251-tonne MTOW variant will be capable of operating ultra-long-range routes of up to 8,150nm.
