N941UW

N941UW (c/n 27806, l/n 657), a 757-2B7 owned by Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, is ferrying from GYR to XSP for freighter conversion, and has made a fuel stop at HNL, before continuing onto GUM.

27806 was originally delivered to USAir in January 1995 as N628AU. It received the dark blue livery following the name change to US Airways. In December 2006, it had Blended Winglets installed, and re-registered as N941UW (f/n 941). Following the US Airways / American Airlines merger, it was transferred to the latterʻs fleet in December 2013, when it was painted in the American livery. It was withdrawn from service last month. 27806 will undergo freighter conversion at XSP, and will be leased to SF Airlines (China).

American And US Airways Under SOC

Beginning today, American Airlines and US Airways are now under a Single Operating Certificate (SOC). With this SOC, the US Airways IATA Code (US), ICAO Code (AWE), and callsign ("Cactus") will be retired, and the American code will take over.

Here are the changes to the former US Airways Hawai‘i flights to American flight codes:
HNL-PHX: AWE675 is AAL695; AWE693 is AAL693
PHX-HNL: AWE692 is AAL692; AWE694 is AAL694
OGG-PHX: AWE638 is AAL638; AWE645 is AAL645
PHX-OGG: AWE432 is AAL432; AWE633 is AAL633
LIH-PHX: AWE697 is AAL697
PHX-LIH: AWE684 is AAL684
KOA-PHX: AWE661 is AAL661
PHX-KOA: AWE663 is AAL663

Ticket counters and reservations systems will remain separate until later this year, when they will be integrated.

Further information in this American Airlines press release and World Airline News article.

US Airways' N707UW

Our July edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" features N707UW (msn 949), a former US Airways A319-112, that ferrying through HNL in November 2005, on its way to a new lessee.

949 was originally purchased by GECAS in January 1999, then leased to US Airways as N707UW. In March 2006, it was leased to United Eagle Airlines [EU/UEA] (China) as B-6155. The airline changed its name to Chengdu Airlines in 2010, and B-6155 remained under the new name. In June 2012, it was leased to Hamburg Airways as D-AHHE. In April 2013, TAME [EQ/TAE] (Ecuador) acquired this A319, and registered it as HC-COF.

American and US Airways Merger Complete

The merger between American Airlines and US Airways has been completed. For the time being, the two carriers will operate separately while the two airlines applies for a Single Operating Certificate, which could take up to two years. 

In March 2014, US Airways will leave the Star Alliance, and join the oneworld alliance.

Further information in this American Airlines press release.


It appears that the current AAL and AWE flights to/from Hawai‘i will remain unchanged for the time being. We will see what changes will happen when the Single Operating Certificate is obtained.

DoJ Seeks To Block AA/US Merger

In a 180º turn from past large airline mergers, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) seeks to block the merger between American Airlines and US Airways via lawsuit, due to anti-trust concerns. The DoJ had not intervened in the most recent large mergers that included the United / Continental, Delta / Northwest, and Southwest / airTran mergers. The American / US Airways merger is due to be completed next month, but with this lawsuit, the completion has been put in a holding pattern.

Further information in this NYC Aviation report.

American And US Airways To Merge

American Airlines and US Airways announced this morning that the two airlines have agreed to merge. American will be the surviving brand, especially with their re-brand and new livery.

How this merger will affect the Hawai‘i market remains to be seen. The US Airways (and previous America West Airlines) service to/from PHX survived that merger. Also, how fast will the former US Airways fleet receive the new American branding?

American Airlines has released this webpage about the merger.

American's acquisitions since the 1980s: AirCal (Air California) [OC/ACL], Reno Air [QQ/ROA], and Trans World Airlines [TW/TWA].
US Airways' acquisitions since the 1980s: Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) [PS/PSX], Piedmont Airlines [PI/PAI], and America West Airlines [HP/AWE].

American / US Airways Merger?

News of a possible merger between American Airlines and US Airways seems to be getting closer. Though US Airways will be the takeover party, the American Airlines name and branding will be retained, and the headquarters will be at Fort Worth, TX. It appears that unions from both carriers are pushing for the merger to happen, especially with AAL still in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The  finalization of the merger would have to pass through shareholders, creditors, bankruptcy court, the board of directors, and the federal government.

How will this affect the Hawai‘i market? It remains to be seen. AWE currently has two daily flights between PHX and HNL, and a daily flight between PHX and OGG. AAL has a total of ten daily flights to the four major Hawai‘i airports (LAX-HNL: 3; DFW-HNL: 2; LAX-OGG: 2; DFW-OGG: 1; LAX-KOA: 1; and LAX-LIH: 1)

In this USA Today article, US Airways CEO Doug Parker stated that AWE has reached agreements with three of AAL's labor unions, should a merger go through. This subject is also trending within the aviation industry on Twitter.com.

US Airways Star Alliance

US Airways' Star Alliance N935UW (c/n 27201, l/n 605) is seen here being fueled up for its flight to Phoenix as AWE808. This 757-2B7 was delivered to USAir in 1994.

N825EX

A former US Airways Express Dash8-102A, N825EX (msn 388), has stopped off at HNL from YYC via GTF (Great Falls International, MT) and CCR. It will continue onto MAJ.

N825EX was originally delivered to Allegheny Commuter in October 1994, then was merged into the Piedmont Airlines fleet in January 2004. Both airlines are part of the US Airways Express system.

Sorry, no HNL photo ...

UA & US In Merger Talks

United Airlines and US Airways are currently in "advanced merger talks" in another attempt to combine forces.

Wall St. Journal, and L.A. Times coverage.

Should the merger be approved, there's no word on how it will affect flights to/from Hawai‘i. Currently, US serves PHX from HNL (2), OGG (2), and KOA, plus HNL and CLT. UA serves HNL from NRT, KIX, LAX (4), SFO (5), DEN, and ORD; LIH from LAX and SFO; OGG from ORD (return via KOA), LAX (3), SFO (3), and DEN; and KOA from LAX (2), SFO (2), DEN, and ORD (via OGG).


US Airways also announced that their non-stop service between CLT and HNL (AWE807/808) will end in September.

AWE807/AWE808

US Airways (US/AWE) begins service between CLT (Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, NC) and HNL today using 767-200s. The CLT-HNL flight is listed as AWE807, and the HNL-CLT flight is AWE808.

This is the first direct flight from the eastern US by US Airways, and the first by the original US Airways. The US Airways flights between PHX and Hawai‘i are legacy flights from America West Airlines (AWE), before the USA/AWE merger. With their participation in the Star Alliance, this flight is code-shared as UAL1497.

Due to severe weather and strong headwinds over the southern half of the continental US, AWE807 has been diverted to LAX for a fuel stop, and is now scheduled to arrive at HNL around 1610HST. N251AY (c/n 24784), a 767-2B7ER, is seen above landing on Runway 26L at 1709HST, as the winds shifted today to "Kona Winds". AWE808 departed HNL for CLT at 1915HST.

US Airways Adds CLT-HNL

US Airways will add year-round service to/from CLT (Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, NC) beginning in November. US807 will be the CLT-HNL segment that arrives in the afternoon, and US808 will be the return segment which will be a red-eye. US will be using Boeing 767-200s for this new flight. CLT is one of two US's major east coast hubs, the other being PHL (Philadelphia, PA).

Kahului Drive-By

Stuck the camera out the window and snapped it. I only posted this because I was surprised it even came out.  Arriving OGG today from Phoenix.

ex-US Airways N586US

Formerly with US Airways (US), N586US (c/n 23931), a 737-301, is headed for somewhere in Asia. 586 left ROW on the 6th, and stopped off in TUS and OAK, before tech-stopping here, and heading off to MAJ and SPN.

This 733 was originally ordered by Piedmont Airlines (PI), before being taken over by US, which is why N586US has the -01 Boeing Customer Code, and not the -B7 code for US .

Disappearing Special HP Liveries

With the merger of HP and US, the special livery HP 757's are slowly being repainted into the new US livery. HNL has seen almost all of the special liveries pass through here. The Arizona Cardinals livery 757, N908AW, seen below, is no more.

N908AW was parked on the north ramp on Dec. 20, now wears the new US livery.

2 ex-US 737-3B7s

Two former US Airways 737-3B7s, N394US (c/n 23316) and N397US (c/n 23319), passed through HNL from OAK. Both jets left TUS to OAK for the trip here, then left after re-fueling for MAJ. I guess the forsook the normal overnight stop here, and left about 90 minutes after arriving here.

Sorry, I was unable to get any photos.

N373US & N395US

Two ex-US 737-3B7s, N373US (c/n 22952) and N395US (c/n 23317) are seen here on the south ramp being readied for departure to Majuro (MAJ), on their next leg across the Pacifc to somewhere in Asia.

Looks like both birds received some fresh coats of white paint, and the bare metal sections buffed to a shine.

Two ex-US 737-3B7s

Two ex-US Airways 737-3B7s, N384US (c/n 22957) [above] and N396US (c/n 23318), arrived @ HNL on Sunday around 1430L. They are headed for somewhere in Asia. Sorry, I was unable to get a photo of N396US, which departed HNL for MAJ @ 0930L. N384US's departure was delayed until 1315L.

Ex-US Airways N374US

N374US, an ex-US Airways 737-3B7 (c/n 22953) passed through HNL on its way to somewhere in Asia. The flight originated in Tucson, AZ (TUS) with a stop at OAK. It left for MAJ today. Was not able to get a shot of it while here.