Hawaiian Finally Shares Good News

The airline said most of its markets are improving, including Japan.

Dear readers,

After struggling for much of the past two years as competitors encroached on its domestic markets and Japanese travelers stayed closer to home, Hawaiian claims it has its mojo back. The financial numbers don't yet show it — Hawaiian lost $12.3 million in the second quarter and probably will take a loss for 2023 — but the airline says market conditions are more favorable now. Foreign tourists have returned to Hawaii, and many of Hawaiian’s domestic competitors have moved on, putting their airplanes in other markets.

“The worst is now behind Hawaiian,” analyst Conor Cunningham of Melius Research wrote in a report this week. “By no means is it time to celebrate … but there are clear positive indications from lagging markets.”

It's a busy week for airline results, and for the first time in recent memory, Hawaiian held a mostly uneventful call. So let's jump right into the four most interesting things I learned, including a fun (and passenger friendly) fact about the airline’s plans for its inflight internet.