Mesa Air, which flies regional jets for Delta, United, and USAirways, opened for business in Hawaii today. Their new brand “Go!” is flying between islands for $39 a pop, as an introductory fare. Competitors Aloha, Hawaiian, and Island Air are matching the fares, which may earn miles on partner programs as well.

Mesa / Go! will be operating 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets. While CRJs are generally unloved aircraft, thanks to their tight interior dimensions, they may be tolerable on such a short flight.

Much like Independence Air, which recently liquidated after its unsuccessful effort at building a CRJ-centric low cost airline, there are potential hazards for Mesa here. They don’t have a frequent flyer program yet (”coming soon”) and they don’t codeshare with any of the majors. Go!’s planes are smaller than their competitors, and CRJs are expensive to operate, on a cost-per-passenger basis. But Mesa is a well-funded company. We’ll see how they fare. (oooh, no pun intended)

But wave riders take note of this onerous policy: Go! specifically prohibits the transportation of surfboards. Not enough room in the cargo hold.