Hawaiian Air passengers are already crying foul over a new airline policy that goes into effect October 1st.
Travelers on the Honolulu Pago Pago sector only will no longer be able to get a seat assignment if they book on line.
Hawaiian Air says seat assignment can only be done at the check in counters.
A woman recently booked a flight to the mainland for next month and was surprised to get a rejection on a seat assignment for the Pago Pago to Honolulu sector of her travel and also from Honolulu to Pago Pago.
However for the Honolulu to mainland sector and return she was able to book her seat on line.
The woman was told that she could only get her seat assignment at the check in counter at Tafuna and also at the Hawaiiair Air desk at the airport where her return flight would originate from.
Hawaiian Air Vice President for Corporate Affairs Ann Botticelli explains that Hawaiian Airlines regularly conducts passenger weight surveys on routes that demonstrate discrepancies in fuel consumption.
Frequent travelers will remember being weighed recently…carry-ons too – prior to boarding.
Botticelli said the airline just finished a survey of their Pago Pago route which showed an increase in average passenger weight.
According to the airline official this required them to redistribute weight in their B767 cabins to meet manufacturer’s guidelines.
She explains that the weight redistribution includes limiting the number of adults per row, and reserving seats in certain rows on their B767 aircraft for children under the age of 13.
For that reason, Hawaiian is now assigning seats at the airport for their Pago Pago flights.
Botticelli said, “Our guests will no longer be able to pre-select seats via the web.”
