Southwest validation flights in Hawaii on the rise

Southwest President and CEO, Gary Kelly, announced today, at a rally in Dallas, that the company's validation flights to and from Hawaii's Were ended by a "bravo" from the Federal Aviation Administration.

<! –

~~

->
<! –

~~

->

Southwest President and CEO, Gary Kelly, announced today, at a rally in Dallas, that the company's validation flights to and from Hawaii's Were ended by a "bravo" from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Kelly said Southwest is now waiting for "our newsletter" and that the next step is to receive official authorization for ETOPS flight operations. ETOPS, which stands for "Operational Performance Standards for Long Range Twin Engines", is a certification for aircraft flying over areas with rare or non-existent landing zones.

The official certification, which is expected shortly, is needed for Southwest to make its long-awaited entry into the Hawaiian market.

Southwest announced last year its intention to travel to Hawaii from the California cities of San Diego, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento, and then add inter-island links including Maui, the United States. Island of Hawaii and Kauai. We also talked about a Las Vegas itinerary.

The carrier planned to fly in February, but the government's shutdown prevented the Federal Aviation Administration's regulators from completing the certification process. Kelly did not provide an update on when the carrier could start sales or operations in Hawaii. But he said during a call for results in January that if the FAA resumes in February, it would probably take another month before the carrier gets its certificate and can sell its tickets. Kelly assumed it would take another month to fly here.

Southwest has now completed a trial period for its 175-seat Boeing 737-800, its initial Hawaii service aircraft. On February 5, Southwest began half a dozen test flights as the final stages of a typical approval process, lasting 12 to 18 months.