Hawaiian Air scales back service, offers free interisland flights to health care workers

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) -As a new, interisland 14-day mandatory quarantine goes into effect, Hawaiian Airlines is further reducing its flight schedule.

Hawaiian says it will provide a total of 16 daily round-trip flights between the neighbor islands, starting Saturday, April 4.

They will continue to serve both Molokai and Lanai through its Ohana by Hawaiian flights.

The company is also temporarily suspending service to Pago Pago at the request of American Samoa’s government. The change is expected to last through April 23.

Meantime, Hawaiian Airlines says it will offer complimentary neighbor island flights to medical professionals.

"This virus has presented an unprecedented test for all of us who call Hawaii home,” Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram said, adding that Hawaiian is glad to support medical providers.

In a news release Tuesday, the company says health care workers from the following organizations are eligible for complimentary flight service:

• Hawaii Emergency Physicians Associated (HEPA)
• The Queen’s Health Systems, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii
• Hawaii Permanente Medical Group
• Hawaii Pacific Health
• Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc.

Medical personnel are exempt under Governor Ige’s emergency order, which begins Wednesday, April 1.

[READ MORE: Here’s how the mandatory quarantine for inter-island travelers will work]

The airline hopes it will help the state’s leading healthcare providers to deliver critical medical services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Hawaiian Airlines’ new flight schedule, click here.

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