No, don’t worry Hawaiian and Aloha fans. There’s no need to have a heart attack. go! is not expanding beyond its interisland network with $49 fares to the mainland. Besides, could you imagine that ride in a CRJ? Yikes.

They’re actually just doing a one time trip to the mainland to bring 15,000 ti leaves to University of Hawai’i fans traveling to see their team play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The ti leaf is thought to ward off evil spirits in Hawaiian culture. Something tells me that some of these fans would like to ward off go! from flying within the islands any longer.

But if these fans are really smart, they’ll get together and make the world’s largest batch of ‘okolehao. That stuff is moonshine that’s made from the ti leaf, and I have to imagine it’ll get you nice and drunk. Just picture 15,000 drunk Polynesians wandering the French Quarter after a victory on Tuesday night. Heck, I’d fly a CRJ all the way from LA to see that.

Yeah, that’s a confusing title until you remember that “Airplane Airlines” is what Mokulele Airlines translates to in English. These are the guys who are planning to fly as go!Express out in Hawai’i, and they’ve finally received their first airplane for the new operation. Here’s the picture, courtesy of the Star Bulletin:

You will likely agree that it’s not exactly the most attractive looking livery around. Yikes. While they originally claimed they’d be flying as go!Express last December, it looks like they’ll now be shooting for April.

In the meantime, they’re flying on their own. They have a timetable up on their site that was effective last December showing flights from Kahului (Maui) to Kona, Hilo (Friday/Sunday), and Hana (Sunday only) as well as Kona to Hana (Sunday only). These were being flown with older aircraft, but they’re now transitioning to the new fleet.

I haven’t written about the saga in Pago Pago for quite some time. In fact, the last time I wrote about it was this post on the PriceGrabber discussion forums, so I thought it was time for an update.

There are two main players in this story. First, we have Hawaiian Airlines. They are the only airline to serve American Samoa (that’s where Pago Pago is) with the exception of some local flights to Samoa (the un-American one). In the other corner, we have this not-so-friendly looking guy on the left.

Yup, that’s Governor Tulafono and he really hates Hawaiian Air. Apparently, he thinks they charge too much and they don’t run according to schedule, so he wants them out. Even though he thinks he has the right to kick them out, the US government begs to differ. Hawaiian currently flies to Pago Pago as part of the Essential Air Services program sponsored by the US government. That means they get subsidies to fly there.

So, the governor has decided to take on the US government and try to kick out Hawaiian on his own. The government says that’s not going to happen. It’s been quiet for a few months, but now it looks like the governor is trying a different tactic – smear campaigns.

This article from a San Francisco newspaper says that the governor is blaming the fact that Hawaiian operates the Oakland Raiders charter on some flight disruptions to Pago Pago. He claims that every time they run a charter, the flights to Pago Pago have problems and it’s just another reason why Hawaiian should be kicked out.

Hawaiian says the problems are related to a delay in introducing a new aircraft into its fleet. It purchased some older Delta 767s and these apparently have taken longer to certify than they thought.

So, the governor will continue to whine and try to replace Hawaiian’s service even though he has no authority to do so. He says he’s been talking to United about a stop in Pago Pago (I’d say chances are slim to none) and that another airline in Hawai’i is interested but they are looking to see if their current equipment could fly the route. Well, Aloha knows it’s current equipment could fly the route – they’ve done it before and pulled out quickly. That means they must be talking to go!, and there is no way those CRJs are going to go 2600 miles over the ocean.

At least it’s entertaining.

The first casualty in the battle for Hawai’i (see this post) has arrived. No, it’s not an airline going away (yet), but it does involve nice looking airplanes.

According to an article in ATW, go’s $19 one way fares have made Island Air change their minds about this whole expansion thing. The one Q400 they already received will be returned and the other two will not be taken up.

It sounds to me like they’re just using go’s fares as an excuse. They had originally acquired these larger aircraft to compete head to head with Aloha and Hawaiian on routes like Kahului (Maui) to Honolulu. They had fewer flights than the big guys and they were flying props. Even though I love flying on props in the islands, most people gravitate toward jets.

Either way, it’s the end of their grand experiment. My guess is that they will shrink back to their roots, connecting smaller island airports like Kapalua (Maui) to the bigger cities.