Charter expenses skyrocket, 6 road games per season in the Warriors' future

About how the closing of Aloha and ATA, plus skyrocketing fuel prices, have affected charter prices, JD said:
"Charter costs are just unbelievable now for us. It is getting to be stratospheric." (HA)

HA Note: "For example, Donovan said the Warriors paid $85,000 to charter to San Jose, Calif. for last year's game with the Spartans and $125,000 to Idaho for the game with the Vandals, but have been quoted a $319,000 fare for Fresno State this year."

HA Note: "UH, like the traveling public, is at the mercy of rapidly rising jet fuel costs. Fuel that was $52 a barrel in January 2007 when UH secured last season's air travel has rocketed to more than $120 a barrel. Moreover, Aloha Airlines, which has carried the bulk of UH charters in recent years, shut down March 31. ATA, a low-cost operator between Hawai'i and the West Coast, ceased operations three days later."

About why Aloha's charter flights were cheaper than other airlines, JD said:
"Aloha Airlines had planes here so they would fly us over and bring us back but with some of the others they'd have to fly an empty plane over or back and those costs, including the gasoline, add up." (HA)

About how they might have to mix charter with commercial flights for road trips, JD said:
"Combos are going to have to become more of a reality." (HA)

HA Note: "The Warriors had hoped to charter from Honolulu to Gainesville, Fla., for their season-opening game at Florida. But the limited availability of affordable charters means they will fly commercially to and from Atlanta and only charter between Atlanta and Gainesville, officials said."

About their difficulty in getting a charter to Florida, JD said:
"We found only one company that would fly us to Florida but they couldn't get us in there (Gainesville) the day before the game." (HA)


About how they are playing a school-record-tying 6 road games in 2008, JD said that 6 road games will be common now:
"More and more it looks like it is going to be a 7 (home games) and 6 (road games) split." (HA)

HA Note: "For the trend marks a significant turnaround from recent years in which UH usually played four road games — or less. Just seven years ago UH played but three road games in a 12-game regular season. When Donovan played on the offensive line at UH (1981-82), the Warriors never played more than three beyond these shores, a considerable bone of contention when they were under consideration for national rankings. But with a four/four split of the eight mandated WAC games, and the increasing difficulty in getting non-conference opponents to play games only in Aloha Stadium, the road portion is getting deeper. And tougher. The 2008 season will be only the second time UH has played six regular-season road games. Both the 2009 schedule (which has one opening remaining) and 2011 (fully booked) already have six road games, and it is looking like 2010 could end up that way as well."

HA Note: "What UH is increasingly looking at, under the best conditions, is two-for-one deals in which an opponent comes to Aloha Stadium twice in return for a Warrior trip."

About how teams want to play in Hawaii but also want home games in return, JD said:
"There are definitely schools out there that want to come to Hawai'i and play us — I talked to four of five in Phoenix last week — but the devil is going to be in the details." (HA)