Hawaiian attempts to reverse negative inter-island performance dragged down by new Maui hub

Hawaiian Airlines is working to improve a 6.5% slide in inter-island unit revenues during 1Q2012 driven by its own significant capacity expansion through the creation of a hub in Maui that debuted in Jan-2012. The weakened revenue is significant since Hawaiian has a roughly 80% share in the major inter-island markets, and the region has historically served as a position of revenue strength for the carrier.

Unlike during the mid-2000s when US regional carrier Mesa Air Group debuted its inter-island subsidiary go! with unsustainable fares, which created instability by being a third entrant in the inter-island market and pressured revenues for Hawaiian and Aloha (which went defunct in 2008), the latest challenges Hawaiian faces are of its own making as it increased capacity significantly in the market at the beginning of 2012.