A second is that we are a high-volume destination. He worries that the revenue picture causes airlines to resist increasing capacity to Hawaii, something our No. 1 industry badly needs. Instead airlines push more people onto each plane. Here the average passenger pays 10 to 15 cents per mile and it shows. We get 165 flights a week from Japan, more than twice as many as are flown from Japan to Los Angeles, the next closest U.S. city in Japanese preference.
Fields considers it heretical to argue for higher Hawaii-mainland fares.
Competition keeps them from happening anyway. United, the biggest Hawaii-mainland operator, has only 22.6 percent of the traffic. Following behind are American 15.6 percent, Delta 13.8, Hawaiian 13.4 and Northwest 12.7, Continental 6.3 and Canadian 5.6. If the airlines can't get higher fares, their remedy must lie in lower costs. That's one reason our landing fees are being contested even though they are only about 2 percent of overall costs.