Now last year, when IslandAir, One of Hawaii’s internal island airlines launched their new livery, we got excited as this seemed like a new chapter for the long lasting competitor to Hawaiian Airlines. A brand new livery and new website showed off a fresh, contemporary airline, and we were looking forward to seeing it person. Fast forward a couple of months and things weren’t looking so rosy for the airline, with rumours running around of an impending shut-down as the airline started to suffer from the recent bout of cash-flow-itis that many airlines were suffering from.
I got some spare change, I’ll just buy an airline….
Then, a couple of days ago, we fast forward again, and find out that the airline gets bought out by a single individual, the same individual that bought 98% of the Hawaiian Island of Lanai. Larry Ellison, Oracle chief executive, allegedly the 6th richest person in the world is the new suitor of this airline brand. This is great news for IslandAir, it gives the airline a new lease of life and the ability for it to keep on running though what is a big period of change. Whilst the figures have been kept fairly hush-hush, we have no doubt the airline has had the cash injection to allow it to continue running for the foreseeable future. Obviously right now, O’hana, by Hawaiian is the latest and main competition, both offering a similar service, similar network and similar price point. Interestingly, Hawaiian and Island Air are actually partners and offer some synergy between each other. A nice bit of Aloha spirit there.
Since they announced the new look brand, the new brand elements they have introduced already have been successful. The website is a great slick product, the livery fantastic, and the new look magazine is contemporary and a refreshing read. Whilst we haven’t seen products like the uniforms yet or experienced the in-flight service, hopefully when we travel with them later in the year we will be able to give you a full trip report.
TheDesignAir 