Coconut Wireless: More flights than ever to Hawaii

By Joe Brancatelli

For an airline based in Seattle, Washington, and named after the 49th State, Alaska Airlines is doing an awful lot of flying to Hawaiian airports these days. About 10 percent of the carrier’s service now operates to the 50th state and Alaska’s newest flight additions are in Hawaii. Effective September 20, Alaska will fly daily nonstops between Portland, Oregon, and Honolulu. Daily flights between San Diego and Kahului, Maui, begin on October 1. There’ll even be seasonal service between Portland and Kona on the Big Island beginning November 12.

JetBlue Airways continues to flood the zone in the New York Metro area. On November 17, it will add Hartford, Connecticut, to its route map. There’ll be daily flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
Speaking of Orlando, Hertz has added in-terminal rental facilities in Terminal A and B.
How is New York/Kennedy Airport doing now that its busiest runway is closed for renovation? According to FlightStats, JFK operated at about 60 percent on-time in March, the first month of the closure.
In Georgia, a 162-unit Embassy Suites has opened near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Meanwhile, a 118-room Holiday Inn has opened two miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.