Southwest Airlines' CEO said the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max has affected the carrier's plans for Hawaii flights, according to an article by the Dallas Business Journal.
"The only service we have right now is out of Oakland to Honolulu and to Maui," chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said at a chamber of commerce event held in Dallas, where the company is based. "And in later schedules, depending on when the Max returns, we’ll be introducing service from San Jose, Sacramento and San Diego."
Southwest was not using the Boeing 737 Max for any of the currently operating Hawaii routes. Routes from San Jose to Honolulu and Maui, and interisland service to the Island of Hawaii are expected to start by summer. There are plans to also add routes out of San Diego and Sacramento, but details and dates have not been released.
A Southwest official later added to Kelly’s comments at the Dallas event, explaining that while the FAA’s grounding of Boeing 737 Max does not directly impact their Hawaii service, it does have a cascade effect on how they sequence and service all of their flights.