Hawaiian Airlines Q1 loss narrows as US mainland passengers return

Hawaiian Airlines says it saw a marked increase in passengers from the US mainland, which helped stem the carrier’s losses for the first quarter of the year. Speaking on the Honolulu-based carrier’s quarterly earnings call on 27 April, CE Peter Ingram called the first three months of 2021 “an enormous turning point” in the airline’s recovery. But despite the positive domestic news, the airline now needs inter-island and international traffic to come back just as strong in order to make a sustained recovery. “We reached an important inflection point during the first quarter on our path to recovery with an encouraging rebound in demand, despite the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impose on our business,” Ingram says. “Bookings in North America improved materially as we began to realize the pent up demand for leisure travel after a year of lockdown. I am more optimistic each day about our progress as we rebuild our network and capitalize on the resilience of Hawaii as a post-pandemic vacation destination,” he adds.<br/>