Hawaiian Airlines January Traffic Up on Favorable Factors

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. – a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA) – posted a significant rise in air traffic for the month of January this year. Traffic – measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) – came in at 1.15 billion, up 1.1% from 1.14 billion recorded in the comparable month a year ago.

On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) inched up 5.6% to stand at 1.47 billion. However, the load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers decreased to 78.2% from 81.7% in Jan 2014.

The onset of the holiday season along with an improving U.S. economy has resulted in the operational strength for Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines has significant plans for the summer of 2015. In line with this, the carrier recently announced its decision to initiate daily non-stop flights between Tokyo International Airport at Haneda (HND) and Kona International Airport (KOA) in the Island of Hawai'i this summer, subject to approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

Banking on this, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority (HTA) expects to attract an additional 39,000 tourists, thus allowing both the carriers to foster passenger and revenue growth in the forthcoming months.

In addition, Hawaiian Airlines will also be flagging off seasonal non-stop flights between Oakland and Los Angeles, and Lhu'e, Kaua'i and Kona, Hawai'i Island beginning May 20, 2015. Furthermore, the carrier will operate second daily seasonal non-stop flights between Los Angeles and Maui beginning Jun 11, 2015.

Hence, we believe that such positives will continue to drive the carrier’s performance going forward.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (HA) currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while other stocks having the same Zacks Rank are JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV).