In response to the unprecedented economic challenges facing the airline industry, Hawaiian Airlines has announced that it is matching certain fees that its major competitors have recently adopted.

Effective with tickets purchased on or after August 1 for travel commencing on or after October 1, 2008, Hawaiian will charge $15 for passengers’ first piece of checked luggage for flights between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii.

On interisland flights between the islands of Hawaii, the first piece of checked luggage will continue to be free.

Passengers on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air can now receive up-to-the-minute flight information via e-mail or text message for their entire flight itinerary, including segments on other airlines. The new Trip Alert System is the first airline notification solution to be powered by the FlightStats(TM) Itinerary Monitoring platform and lets customers set up a single profile
once for all future travel.

Customers who have booked a trip at alaskaair.com or with an Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air reservations call center or ticket counter since June 25, 2008, receive an e-mail inviting them to create a profile. The profile specifies the traveler’s preferences for receiving e-mail alerts to a desktop PC, PDA or mobile phone.

Clear,(R) the fast pass for airport security, will celebrate today its three-year anniversary in Orlando, the site of its first lane launch.

Since the program’s start in 2005, Clear has delivered a seamless, hassle-free airport experience more than 750,000 times in Orlando alone, its busiest location (over 1.3 million times nationwide). In just the last six months alone, Clear lanes have seen nearly a 300% increase in monthly usage. Clear now has more than 190,000 sign-ups nationwide — more than 40,000 of them in Orlando. And, the service has a 90% membership retention rate. An additional benefit to members: children under the age of 12 who are accompanied by an adult member can access its lanes for free.