Maui wildfires: How the airlines quickly mobilized to evacuate people with $19 fares

Last week, as wildfires decimated the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina on Maui—taking at least 96 lives with over 1,000 people still unaccounted for— residents and travelers desperately rushed to the airport on tour buses and in rental cars.

Safe from the fire, they encountered long lines and packed terminals at the island’s Kahului International Airport, as thousands hoped for a flight to airlift them off the island.

Amid the desperate need to evacuate, U.S. airlines rapidly mobilized in a matter of hours. 

Carriers routed more planes—including larger ones—to Maui to help with the evacuation, while simultaneously ferrying in critical supplies to the island as emergency responders dealt with the flames and aftermath.

Among the earliest signs of the airlines’ efforts to help: Heavily discounted flights out of Maui that travelers discovered as they furiously booked flights off the island.

In a refreshing departure from the principles of supply and demand—quite unlike trends often seen with gasoline and essential supplies during hurricanes and other natural disasters—several airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines and Southwest Airlines, dropped one-way inter-island airfare to a mere $19.

Underscoring the critical need to depart at all costs, airlines canceled a mere eight flights between Wednesday and Thursday even amid heavy wind, fire, and smoke on the island, according to data from flight-tracking site FlightAware.

Between the lowered fares and high demand, Southwest Airlines was seeing nearly “instantaneous booking” when the carrier released new flight availability, a spokesperson for the carrier told Fast Company.  

Some airlines also adjusted planes and flight schedules to make more seats available.

American Airlines, for instance, shifted a flight Friday from 190-passenger Airbus A321 aircraft to a much larger 273-seat Boeing 777-200, among the largest jets in its fleet.

The carrier focused much of its efforts on transporting Hawaii visitors back to the continental U.S. via its Los Angeles hub.

American also stepped up its Maui schedule for the weekend, adding additional rescue flights aboard Boeing triple-seven aircraft for Saturday and Sunday.

Southwest Airlines’ strategy, meanwhile, centered around its already-robust schedule of flights to, from, and within the Hawaiian islands. With its 90 daily flights that touch the state already—including 60 inter-island short hops—Southwest scaled up flights both between the islands and over the Pacific to assist in the evacuation.

“We’re focused on moving people and pets, as well as critical supplies, and have kept our essential flight service largely on time across this entire week,” Southwest said in a statement.

Unlike Southwest, Alaska Airlines does not typically fly between the Hawaiian islands, but it is now. The Pacific Northwest-based carrier sent planes to Maui to help transport customers from Maui’s Kahului Airport to other parts of the state.

And its planes didn’t arrive empty-handed, either. Alaska loaded up an aircraft at its Seattle cargo facility with nonperishable food, water, and other essential supplies. That plane returned to Seattle with evacuees.

In a LinkedIn post, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said his airline was likewise working “around the clock” to escort passengers out. United scaled up its Maui operation by four flights Friday—while also flying in essential resources via an empty inbound jet.

Meanwhile, numerous airlines have promised contributions to community organizations and aid networks in an effort to assist victims and with the recovery efforts.

Delta Air Lines, for instance, launched a website for its customers to make donations to the American Red Cross, to sit alongside a $250,000 donation from the airline itself. (For more ways to help victims of the fire, go here.)

On top of adding multiple daily flights to shepherd evacuees out of Maui, Hawaiian Airlines, the state’s flagship airline, is promising to be a part of what’s sure to be a profound rebuilding effort. 

“We are committed to leveraging every resource we have to support the Maui community,” the airline said on social media.