Delta to deal Southwest Airlines a blow with new Hawaii flights

With the Aloha State bringing in approximately 10 million tourists on a given year, there is a tempting market for airlines to take travelers to both Honolulu and the other main islands that make up Hawaii.

After cost-cutting pressure from a new investor led to it getting rid of distinctive perks such as open seats and the two-bags-fly-free rule, Dallas-based budget carrier Southwest Airlines has set its sights on carving out a market flying to specific destinations.

The first red-eye flights that Southwest began running last year go to Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island from cities including Las Vegas and Phoenix. At the end of 2025, Southwest announced new service to Hilo on the Big Island that will launch in April 2026.

The airline is also preparing to open its first-ever lounge at Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), in what some airline analysts see as a way to cement its foothold in Hawaii.

Delta Air Lines launching new flights to Maui and Hawaii for 2026 and 2027

This week, Delta Air Lines has also unveiled a major Hawaiian expansion with two new flights and increased frequencies on existing routes. A new route between Minneapolis and Kahului Airport (OGG) in Maui will run daily on an Airbus A330-300 for the 2026-2027 winter season starting Dec. 19.

A second flight between Boston and Honolulu that the airline used to run but cut in 2025 is also being brought back to run four times a week on the same airplane. Spanning approximately 5,095 miles and taking more than 11 hours, the Boston-Honolulu route had, prior to being cut, been the country's longest domestic flight.

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Existing routes to Honolulu from Atlanta, New York's JFK, and Detroit will also see increased frequencies, and flights to Kona on the Big Island from Salt Lake City and LAX will start running earlier and, in the case of the latter flight, on the larger twin-aisle Boeing 767‑300 with room for up to 269 passengers.

In sharing the upgrades, Delta positions its moves as an effort to "strengthen its position as a leading carrier to the islands" and offer its "most expansive Hawaii schedule to date."

"Hawaii plays an important role in our long-haul leisure network": Delta Air Lines

"Hawaii plays an important role in our long-haul leisure network," Delta's VP of Network Planning Amy Martin said in a statement.

"This expansion strengthens connectivity from key U.S. hubs while giving customers more choice in how they reach the islands, alongside the premium travel experience they expect on these long-haul flights."

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This is all great news for Hawaii fans who live in these cities, but it could provide increased competition to Southwest on at least one of the routes.

The latter carrier runs the same flight to Kona International (KOA) from LAX, while Delta's eyes on the state could also spell increased market saturation if it decides to expand further.

In addition, United Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue each offer an extensive Hawaiian network of flights to the four islands from various U.S. cities.

Related: Another major airline cancels all flights to the U.S.