Southwest Gaining ETOPS Certification For Flights To Hawaii

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, February 05, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Southwest Airlines is beginning ETOPS certification flights this week with an initial flight from Oakland to Honolulu.
These certification flights are a prerequisite for launching California-to-Hawaii revenue service, targeted for mid-March.
This is the first time Southwest has required ETOPS certification, unlike its existing international routes to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
The move will introduce Southwest's low-cost carrier service to the Hawaii market, where other airlines like Alaska already use 737s for similar routes.

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Southwest Airlines is due to conduct its maiden flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, this week as part of its ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certification. Partly delayed by the government shutdown, Southwest will complete its ETOPS certification flights over the next few weeks with the goal of launching California-to-Hawaii revenue flights by mid-March.

Southwest announced its intent to serve Hawaii last year.

The low-cost carrier, which started flying internationally with its service to the Caribbean in 2014, has not needed ETOPS certification until now. Southwest also flies to Mexico and Costa Rica, but did not need ETOPS approval to complete those routes.

Southwest won’t be the only carrier using the venerable 737 to hop the Pacific. Alaska Airlines currently runs the 737-800 from West Coast airports to Honolulu.