Hawaiian Airlines Sets Dates, Routes For Initial 787 Deployments

Hawaiian Airlines has scheduled its first Boeing 787 commercial service for April 2024, with the aircraft to be used on additional routes a month later.

The airline is due to take delivery of its first 787-9 in January 2024, following multiple program delays. Earlier this year, Hawaiian had been expecting first deliveries to start in November.

The 787-9 will initially be used on Hawaiian’s Honolulu-San Francisco route starting April 15. The subsequent arrival of the airline’s second 787 will allow it to deploy the aircraft on selected flights on the Honolulu-Los Angeles route starting May 14, and the Maui-Los Angeles route starting May 15.

Hawaiian has 12 of the 787s on order. The airline confirmed to Aviation Daily that it remains on track to receive a total of four by the end of 2024. A new premium cabin product will debut on the 787s.

Separately, Hawaiian has downgraded its capacity and revenue guidance slightly as a result of the catastrophic wildfires in West Maui in August, as well as new requirements for Airbus A321neo engine inspections.

In its previous forecast in July, Hawaiian estimated its unit revenue would be down by 2%-5% year-on-year in the third quarter (Q3). Now, however, it expects unit revenue to decline by 4%-7% in the quarter. This is primarily due to reduced travel demand to Maui because of the wildfires. The Hawaii state government is discouraging non-essential travel to West Maui through Oct. 17, although other areas of Maui remain open to tourism.

Hawaiian had also been predicting its Q3 capacity would be up by 4.5%-7.5% year-on-year, but it has now revised this to an increase of 4%-5.5%. The change is attributable to the need for accelerated inspections of Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines on its A321neo fleet.