AMERICAN TAKES OFF HALF-LOADED

According to an American Airlines press release, service from D/FW Airport to Honolulu, with a stop in Los Angeles, is so successful the airline felt obligated to add a nonstop flight from Dallas to Hawaii. The passenger load statistics shown there may have been another motive.

Braniff has been beating American badly with its Dallas-Honolulu nonstop 747’s versus American’s one-stop DC-10’s. American has obviously decided to compete nose cone-to-nose cone, with a daily flight that will leave earlier than Braniff’s, beginning June 11.

American officials won’t say what the load factor has been from D/FW to Honolulu, but industry sources say it’s significantly below American’s system-wide average of 56.4 per cent. American flight attendants say the planes are almost full between D/FW and Los Angeles, but virtually empty between Los Angeles International and Honolulu.