Southwest Airlines feels 'very good' about Hawaii', 'chomping at the bit' to commence services

Southwest Airlines chairman and CEO Gary Kelly stated the airline feels "very good" about Hawaii, while COO Michael Van de Ven noted it continues to make "steady progress" on its ETOPS certification process with the US FAA (Seeking Alpha/USA Today, 25-Oct-2018). Southwest is now transitioning from the design and documentation of its ETOPS procedures to a "demonstration phase". Mr Van de Ven said resources, its locations in Hawaii, equipment and staffing are "ready". President Thomas Nealon affirmed Southwest will be "ready to go" as soon as it gets the certification, adding: "Our facilities are ready to go. Our teams are over there. The aircraft are ready, and we've been working on this for quite a while. So we are really just chomping at the bit".