Flights Canceled Between Sacramento and Hawaii Amid Coronavirus Shutdown on Islands

One of the three airlines that flies between Sacramento and Hawaii - Hawaiian Airlines - has announced it will close down flights between islands and the mainland starting Thursday in reaction to Hawaii’s coronavirus “shelter in place” announcement.

Hawaii state officials said they will impose a mandatory 14-day quarantine for everyone on the islands on Thursday. Hawaiian Airlines officials said they will continue flights through Wednesday to allow people time to leave the islands before the quarantine is imposed, and for Hawaii residents to get home. The airline flies to Oahu and Maui from Sacramento.

The number of coronavirus cases in Hawaii jumped to 56 in Sunday, most of them on the island of Oahu.

“We support the state of Hawai‘i’s efforts to quickly contain this illness. We have begun notifying our guests and helping them return home – both to Hawai’i and from Hawai’i,” Hawaiian Airlines President Peter Ingram said in a press statement Sunday night.

Neither Southwest Airlines, the number one carrier to and from Sacramento International Airport, nor Alaska Airlines had announced cessation of flights to Hawaii from Sacramento as of Monday morning.

Southwest officials on Monday did say they are making arrangements so that they “will be ready to support new protocols required of our customers and employees arriving in Hawaii as the state’s new mandate takes effect later this week.”

Southwest previously announced it will cut 20 percent of its flight schedule in the coming weeks, starting April 14, but has not detailed which flights will be impacted.

Although Hawaii’s travel quarantine begins on Thursday, the Honolulu mayor on Sunday announced a “stay at home, work from home” policy will begin today and is tentatively set to last for one week. Officials, however, said the order likely will be extended beyond one week.

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