go! Launches Hawaiian Language Website

HONOLULU, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- go!, Hawaii's Low Fare Airline, today
announced on February 17, 2008, in conjunction with Ho'omau 2008, it will
officially launch a new website using only the Hawaiian language. This new
site is available at www.lelegowau.com (Hawaiian for
www.iflygo.com) and will allow passengers to search for and book
interisland travel, all in Hawaiian. go! is extremely proud to launch the
first airline website and the first e-commerce website to use only the
Hawaiian language. The new site is also available by selecting "Hawaiian"
from the language drop-down menu at www.iflygo.com.
Ho'omau 2008 is the 10th annual Ho'omau concert, which benefits all O'ahu
Hawaiian language immersion schools and will be held on Sunday, February 17,
2008, at the Waikiki Shell.
"The creation of this site served as both an exercise and opportunity for
the students of Hawai'i's Hawaiian language immersion schools who assisted in
translation and the creation of some new Hawaiian words," said Jonathan
Ornstein, Mesa Air Group Chairman and CEO. "Using Hawaiian in such a modern
fashion required growth of the language and has already furthered the goal of
making it one of today's living languages," he continued.
"In the last 30 years there has been a remarkable resurgence in the
training and use of Hawaiian," said Frank Among, go! VP of eCommerce. "We hope
that the production of this site will continue to support interaction and
familiarity with the Hawaiian language and also encourage more of the business
community to make an effort to keep Hawai'i's rich culture alive," he
continued.
The site has been created with input from many people including Larry
Kimura, noted Hawaiian language author and UH Hilo Professor; Sterling Kini
Wong of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Manu Boyd, Cultural Director, The
Festivals Company; Kaulana Vares, UH Manoa Hawaiian Studies student, as well
as Ms. Kaui Keola and her students at Kula Kaiapuni 'o Anuenue in Palolo.
Student involvement from other Hawaiian language schools will also be sought
and the goal is to involve students in the marketing, sales, support and
development of the site on an on-going basis. Another local company, Ezrez
Software, is being used for the booking engine technology. "As a company with
deep roots in Hawai 'i, Ezrez has a strong commitment to the community. We are
honored to be a part of an initiative that promotes and perpetuates the
Hawaiian language," said Ezrez CEO Tina Fitch.
go! operates approximately 60 flights a day from its Honolulu hub to
Lihue, Kahului, Kona, and Hilo using a fleet of state-of-the-art Bombardier
CRJ-200 jets outfitted with comfortable leather interiors and no middle seats.
In 2007 go! launched go!Drive and began selling Hawai'i interisland
holiday packages through its primary website, www.iflygo.com. With interisland
vacations starting at $99*, go!Drive is Hawai'i's affordable fly/drive
package. go!Drive packages offer a variety of options to travelers including
airfare, hotels, rental cars, tours and airport transfers all at the lowest
prices.
go! recently extended its route network with the launch of go!Express,
operated under a code share agreement with Hawai'i-based Mokulele Airlines.
The new service adds Kapalua, Maui, Lana'i City, Lana'i and Ho'olehua,
Moloka'i to the list of Hawai'i communities with access to go!'s
market-leading low fares.
Passengers who register for the go!Miles frequent flyer program are able
to earn go!Miles redeemable for future travel and can receive 500 free miles
by registering online. go!Miles members also receive advance notice of fare
sales and other specials, so sign up at iflygo.com today! Additional
information is available and tickets can be booked online at iflygo.com or by
calling toll free 1-888-IFLYGO2.
Mesa Air Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MESA) currently operates 183 aircraft with
over 1,300 daily system departures to 181 cities, 46 states, the District of
Columbia, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Mesa operates as Delta Connection,
US Airways Express and United Express under contractual agreement with Delta
Air Lines, US Airways and United Airlines, respectively, and independently as
Mesa Airlines. In June 2006 Mesa launched interisland Hawai'i service as go!.
This operation links Honolulu to the neighbor island airports of Lihu'e,
Kahului, Kona, and Hilo. The Company, founded by Larry and Janie Risley in
New Mexico in 1982, has approximately 5,000 employees and was awarded Regional
Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine in 1992 and 2005. Mesa is
a member of the Regional Airline Association and Regional Aviation Partners.
SOURCE go!

Joe Bock of go!, +1-808-351-7387, Joe.bock@iflygo.com