About Brent Overbeek
In September 2022, Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram discussed the company's decision to suspend full-year capacity and cost guidance due to uncertainty around when Japan would ease travel restrictions. Ingram stated that Japan's gradual relaxation of arrival caps was "not nearly enough to satisfy the underlying demand" and predicted it would be "at least another month or two" before meaningful change occurred. He expressed confidence that Japan's travel demand would "come back very strong" once restrictions were lifted, citing the country's "tremendous historical affinity for travel to Hawaii."
Ingram also addressed Hawaiian Airlines' partnership with SpaceX to provide free in-flight internet via Starlink satellites. He explained that the airline had waited to add connectivity because prior satellite technologies "haven't really worked very well over the Pacific." He described Starlink's lower Earth orbit satellites as a "game changer" capable of supporting streaming for all passengers simultaneously, and said the airline expected to begin installations "over the next year or so."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Brent Overbeek's recent appearances.
Browse all interviews →
Transcript (8 segments)
I
Interviewer0:00
Markets like Japan. Here now for a first on CNBC interview is Hawaiian Holdings CEO Peter Ingram. Wall Street doesn't like that, taking away the outlook for the year. What made you go there? Why is it so uncertain?
P
Peter Ingram0:15
Hi, Sara. Great to be with you. We have had guidance for the full year for capacity and for cost for ASM, which is, obviously, capacity is the big determinant of that because it's the denominator of the calculation. Because of the uncertainty of the timing of when we can resume a fuller schedule to Japan, we made a decision to suspend that guidance, but we've got guidance out there for the second quarter. We've got revenue guidance and there is a lot to be encouraged about in our story now as we're seeing really strong demand in the markets that are fully open.
I
Interviewer0:55
What do we know about Japan, which is, obviously, so critical to your business? When those restrictions might ease and what demand might look like now that their currency has fallen to a 20-year low.
P
Peter Ingram1:09
Well, we have seen gradual relaxing of some of the restrictions in Japan. An increase in the caps, the limitations that are placed on the number of arrivals per day. It's not nearly enough to satisfy the underlying demand right now, and so we're going to have to wait on the timing of that. We think it is probably going to be at least another month or two before we see meaningful change in that. But of course, it's up to the government of Japan to make those changes. But we do feel that there is going to be a really strong resurgence. You can see it in the desire for Japanese to travel domestically. You can see it internationally in terms of demand from places like Australia and South Korea. Japan has a tremendous historical affinity for travel to Hawaii. It's really sustained a lot of ups and downs over decades, and I have every confidence that it is going to come back very strong when people are free to travel a little more openly.
I
Interviewer2:24
So talk a little bit about this deal that you made with SpaceX. It's interesting because it's the first of its kind. So you are using their satellites for free internet on the planes? How does that work? And do you expect your competitors to follow through with this sort of deal as well?
P
Peter Ingram2:43
This is something we're really excited about. We waited for a long time to put connectivity on our airplanes because the current generation and prior generations of satellite connectivity for aircraft haven't really worked very well over the Pacific. And the lower Earth orbit satellites that Starlink uses, that SpaceX is putting up by the thousands, are really a game changer in terms of the technology, in terms of being able to support streaming on the aircraft from everyone on the aircraft using their device. We know our guests are going to be delighted and we can't wait to get to doing these installations over the next year or so. We expect to start installing the satellite...
B
Brent Overbeek3:29
We expect to start installing the satellite...
I
Interviewer3:29
We expect to start installing the satellite...
