After a difficult year for the airline industry, Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram told CNBC that he believes it is only going forward.
Airlines have spent much of 2020 cutting routes and cutting flights due to declining travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, but companies like Delta and United Airlines have announced some new additions in recent months.
Hawaiian Airlines is entering the fray with new nonstop flights from Honolulu to Austin, Texas; Orlando, Florida and Ontario, California, to be added in the spring. The Honolulu-based company anticipates a recovery in air travel in the new year and seeks to capitalize on population trends in the southern states.
“The reason it is time to announce three new routes is because … we are very optimistic about 2021,” he said in “Closing Bell”. “These are places that we saw a long time ago. They have a strong and strong demand for Hawaii.”
Austin has established itself among the country’s leading technology scenarios, rivaling the traditional technology ecosystem for which the San Francisco Bay area is known. The Texas capital has attracted the interest of several technology companies that have opened factories there or announced plans to relocate their California headquarters.
Earlier this month, Oracle, a pillar of Silicon Valley, said it would move its headquarters to Austin. It is one in a series of companies that plan to relocate corporate operations outside California.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved his personal residence to Texas, dividing most of his time between Austin and Boca Chica, where SpaceX’s facilities are located. Tesla, which remains based in Palo Alto, Calif., And the Musk Tunnel start-up, Boring Co., have operations in Austin.
Apple is also increasing its presence in the Texas capital, where it is investing $ 1 billion on a 3 million square foot campus. The site is expected to employ 5,000 people and the opening is scheduled for 2022.
“I saw in your air a coverage of how Austin is growing as a technology center these days, and we think a lot of these people are going to want to travel to Hawaii,” said Ingram. “The same goes for Orlando, which has a growing population.”
Florida is a long-standing place for retirees to move, and the state’s population has been steadily increasing. Due to population changes in the U.S., Texas is expected to add three seats to its US House delegation and Florida is expected to take two, the Associated Press reported.
Based on Census Bureau estimates, 10 states, including New York, Michigan and California, risk losing at least one seat in the House, which can have a notable effect on the country’s political map, according to the AP.
Hawaiian Airlines has reported revenue drops of around 90% in its last two quarterly reports.
“In a period when the depth of some of our traditional routes may not be what it was, it is a good opportunity to look at expanding our network, and we see great opportunities for all of this, not just for the next year, but for the long term, “said Ingram.
Hawaiian Airlines shares fell 1.55% on a reduced trading day in recognition of Christmas Eve. At US $ 17.78 per share, the stock remains down 39% year to date.
The stock is more than double its $ 7.55 low pandemic in mid-March.