Hawaiian lost $138m in Q1 as costs surged

Hawaiian Holdings, parent of Hawaiian Airlines, lost $138 million in Q1 of 2024, though the company’s chief executive says incoming Boeing 787s and a new freighter operation are putting Hawaiian on track toward profitability. The $138m loss compares with Hawaiian’s loss of $98m last year during the same period. The Honolulu-based company’s first-quarter revenue rose 5.4% year on year to $646m, while its expenses jumped 8.8% in one year to $794m, it reported on 23 April. Notably, Hawaiian’s maintenance and repair costs surged 41% year on year, and expenses tied to wages and benefits jumped 8.3%. It also logged $9 million in legal fees related to Hawaiian’s anticipated acquisition by Alaska Airlines. The number of passengers who flew Hawaiian remained flat year on year, at 2.6m in Q1. During the period, the carrier introduced new routes from Honolulu to both Salt Lake City and Sacramento, and ramped up its summer schedule with more flights between Honolulu and Austin, Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and American Samoa. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2024, Hawaiian chief executive Peter Ingram says recent investments in Starlink in-flight internet services and in an air-freight partnership with Amazon, and the launch of its flagship 787 aircraft, have “begun to come to fruition”.<br/>