Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Hawaiian Airlines, in a letter to Representative Fagaima Larry Sanitoa, who had initiated discussions with them, on what American Samoa can do to help support a sustainable third weekly flight between Pago Pago and Honolulu, revealed that essentially a “new demand”, particularly during non-peak periods, needs to be generated.

Fagaima met with Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines Senior Public Affairs Manager Jacob Aki in Pago Pago on September 1, 2026, following Hawaiian's decision to return the route to twice-weekly service during non-peak periods.

“Rather than simply asking Hawaiian for another flight, I wanted to understand why the third flight was not sustainable and what we can do in American Samoa to help make it work,” Fagaima said, in his office press release, dated October 21, 2026.

Following the meeting, Hawaiian provided Fagaima with detailed information on the route. Passenger traffic totaled 59,522 in 2023, increased to 62,444 in 2024, and declined to 59,502 in 2025. Average load factors were 87 percent, 90 percent and 72 percent, respectively.

Hawaiian explained that the third weekly flight, introduced in February 2025, was a test to determine whether the market could support permanent additional service. The additional capacity did not generate enough new passengers, resulting instead in existing demand being spread among three flights.

The airline said three weekly flights continue to work during summer and holiday periods, but demand is weaker during portions of the spring and fall. Hawaiian also reported that the former Tuesday flight generated approximately 32 percent lower revenue performance than the stronger Monday and Thursday flights.

Hawaiian identified several ways American Samoa could help build demand, including attracting more visitors from Hawaiʻi and the U.S. mainland, taking advantage of Alaska Airlines' expanded network, coordinating government and group travel, strengthening tourism marketing, and developing additional cargo business.

Fagaima also raised the possibility of using smaller aircraft or a combination of aircraft types to provide three weekly travel days without substantially increasing total seat capacity. Hawaiian said smaller aircraft could potentially be considered, but that fuel, payload, baggage, cargo capacity and aircraft performance must all be evaluated.

As a follow-up to the September discussions, Fagaima traveled to Honolulu, where Hawaiian Airlines arranged an October 2 visit to its airport operations at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. The visit provided an opportunity to continue the dialogue and gain a better understanding of Hawaiian's operations.

“I think Hawaiian has given us a clearer picture of the challenge,” Fagaima said. “The next step is to determine how many additional passengers and how much additional cargo we need during the slower months, and then see what government, tourism and the private sector can do to help build that market.”

Fagaima believes that continued cooperation among Hawaiian Airlines, the American Samoa Visitors Bureau, government agencies and the private sector will be important in developing a practical plan to increase passenger and cargo demand, particularly during slower travel periods.

“I appreciate Hawaiian's willingness to share its data and work with us,” Fagaima said. “Our goal is not simply more flights. It is more frequent service that can be sustained over the long term.”

HAWAIIAN AIR LETTER

Hawaiian Air’s letter, dated September 14, 2026, explains in detail its decision for  the 2 weekly flights during non-peak periods. It states the following:

“The key takeaway is that passenger traffic in 2025 declined by nearly 3,000 passengers compared to 2024 and returned to nearly the same level as 2023, despite the addition of a third weekly flight. At the same time, significantly more seats were added to the market. As a result, average load factors fell from 90% in 2024 to 72% in 2025.

“Importantly, this does not mean people stopped traveling. Rather, the existing demand was spread across three flights instead of two, resulting in more empty seats on each departure, particularly during off-peak periods. The route continues to perform well during summer and holiday periods, but demand during much of the spring and fall has not been sufficient to consistently support three weekly flights year-round.

“Bottom line: The third flight was a market test. The results showed that while the market supports seasonal three-times-weekly service during peak periods, current year-round demand levels are much closer to 2023 levels and do not support year-round three-times-weekly service.”

Hawaiian further pointed out that the weakness is not in the route itself, but is “the consistency of demand throughout the year.”

The date it notes shows “shows that demand was not evenly distributed across all departures. Internal performance reviews identified the Tuesday frequency as the weakest-performing travel day, generating approximately 32% lower revenue performance than the stronger Monday and Thursday operations.

“Bottom line: The challenge is not attracting travelers during peak periods. The challenge is generating enough year-round demand to consistently support the additional capacity.”

In response to Fagaima’s query about how to make a permanent third weekly flight possible, Hawaiian states that the objective is to create enough consistent passenger and cargo demand during shoulder seasons (non-peak seasons) to offset the cost of operating the third flight.

It lists areas that could help achieve this objective:
• Increased visitor arrivals from Hawaiʻi and the U.S. continent.
• Greater utilization of Alaska Airlines' expanded North American network.
• More coordinated government, education, church, and sports travel.
• Stronger destination marketing and tourism promotion.
• Additional cargo volume and revenue.

“Bottom line: To restore a permanent third travel day, the market must grow, not simply redistribute existing travelers across more flights.”

The idea that using a smaller aircraft could be part of the solution was also addressed in the Hawaiian letter to Fagaima.

Hawaiian says that possibly it could, “but seat count does not determine whether an aircraft is viable.” It points out that consideration must be for both passenger and cargo demand, not just passenger seats. 

Notably it takes into account the way Samoans travel — without saying it:
“A smaller aircraft may have enough seats on paper but may not be able to utilize every seat if weight-and-balance restrictions require tradeoffs between passengers, baggage, cargo, and fuel.
“Additionally, the A330 [aircraft currently being used on the route] provides substantial cargo capacity that supports both the economics of the route and the transportation needs of American Samoa. Any aircraft evaluation must therefore consider both passenger and cargo demand, not just passenger seats.
“Bottom line: A smaller aircraft may appear attractive from a seat-capacity standpoint, but operational constraints and cargo requirements make the analysis far more complex than comparing seat counts alone.”

Samoa News will report more of the letter in this week’s publications. 

The letter offers thoughts from Hawaiian about what American Samoa can do to help Hawaiian make a third flight successful, including how to bring more passengers into American Samoa. In addition, Hawaiian explains its role to preventing illegal drugs from being transported on its flights to American Samoa.