Southwest Cuts Back on Hawaii Flights as 14-Day Quarantine Begins for Visitors
Southwest Airlines is substantially cutting back flights to and within Hawaii after the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine for incoming travelers went into effect Thursday.
Dallas-based Southwest said Thursday that it will only fly to Honolulu on two daily round-trip flights out of Oakland International Airport, temporarily dropping routes from San Jose, San Diego and Sacramento. The airline also will be “thinning” service between Hawaiian islands, Southwest Airlines president Tom Nealon said in a blog post.
The changes will start April 5 and go through May 3, the company said.
“This change is intended to be temporary and nimble,” Nealon wrote.
Hawaii had been a bright point for Southwest Airlines since it launched service a year ago and the company even chose to continue expanding there while it was short airplanes because of the 737 Max grounding.
But Hawaii instituted the strictest standard of any U.S. state when its governor mandated that visitors to the state had to stay inside for 14 days after they arrive. Several of the island chain’s cities have also issued “shelter in place” orders that make tourism activities difficult.
Earlier this week, Southwest said it is cutting about 1,500 of its 4,000 daily flights in response to the dramatic drop in demand from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The company is also making voluntary leave offers to employees, grounding planes and making other cuts as it looks to save money in the coming months.
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