Southwest Airlines has suspended most of its service to the Hawaiian Islands.
The carrier has suspended 10 of its 12 between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii in light of the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine protocol that the Islands have put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Southwest president Tom Nealon said on the airline’s blog: “We’ve been preparing a temporary flight schedule that supports both the realities of this vastly diminished marketplace for visitors while underscoring our commitment to the communities of Hawaii with a plan to continue providing interisland service for business, medical and other essential travel.”
Starting April 5, 2020, the airline will offer two roundtrip flights daily between Oakland and Honolulu and reduce interisland flights to just twice-daily roundtrip service between Honolulu and airports across neighbor islands.
Customers affected by the changes can take advantage of Southwest’s additional flexibility offered through booking policies established as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Nealon noted that Southwest is dedicated to serving the Islands over the long term.
“We recently celebrated our first anniversary of serving Hawaii and we intend a long-term relationship between Southwest and the islands,” he said on the blog. “We also intend to keep our commitment to our Customers across the islands who need a predictable and vital connection in a time of so much uncertainty.”
