Southwest Airlines inches closer to initiating Hawaii flights

San Francisco, CALIFORNIA — Earlier this year, Southwest Airlines executives said they hoped to begin selling tickets for Hawaii flights by the end of 2018.

While the selling of Southwest flights has not started, incumbent airlines have already reacted with some of the deepest discounting we've ever seen to the islands. Over the last six months, the least expensive round trip fares between the mainland and Hawaii have been in the low $300s, and occasionally (and remarkably) even dipping below that threshold. Prior to Southwest's announcement, the cheapest fares typically ran in the $400-$500 range.

Based on Southwest's earlier announcements, we thought Southwest would have announced dates, fares and Rapid Rewards redemption levels for its new service by now.  But that hasn't happened yet, and it's been an agonizing wait for many Southwest fliers-- or just about anyone interested in flying to Hawaii this winter.

While there's still nothing official,  there have been new developments that point to an early-2019 launch of much anticipated Southwest flights to the Aloha State.

It's all about ETOPS: Everything boils down to Southwest getting its fleet of overwater Boeing 737s certified for ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards). Since Hawaii is 2,500 miles from the U.S. mainland, a special type of aircraft and certifications are required. To get this certification, Southwest needs to demonstrate that in the event of an engine failure over an ocean, its 737s can safely fly on just one-engine for an extended amount of time to the nearest suitable airport.

The process can take airlines 12-18 months to complete, and there are indications Southwest is close to finishing. (You may remember that Alaska's Virgin America ran into similar delays when it launched Hawaii flights in 2015.)

Key procedures approved: Southwest told its employees last Friday that its ETOPS-related procedures and manuals were approved by Federal Aviation Administration before Christmas.

The certification process will advance to what will be the two final phases: so-called "tabletop exercises" where Southwest will demonstrate to the FAA (while on the ground) its plan to safely respond to simulated scenarios that the Hawaii flights could encounter.

If the FAA is satisfied, actual flights across the Pacific with Administration personnel on-board — called proving or validation flights — will begin between the mainland and Hawaii. This will be the final phase of the certification. We're watching for these to happen!

A curious flight: A flight that caught our eye was December 18's Southwest flight 8750 that departed Oakland and made a nearly four-hour loop out over the Pacific on an ETOPS configured Boeing 737-800.

We've received no official confirmation about the purpose of this flight, but airline industry observers speculate that it was to test procedures and equipment necessary for transoceanic flying like on-board high frequency radios and satellite communications. These tests are typically a necessary precursor to validation flights with the FAA onboard.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told Bloomberg earlier this month he expects flights to begin during the "peak winter season" which leads us to believe that an announcement about the flights is imminent-- meaning a timeline of January or February at the latest.

Read more at SF Gate