A new era for Hawaiian Airlines as it launches Dreamliner service: TPG was on the inaugural

It’s a big moment for Hawaiian Airlines.

After years of anticipation, Hawaiian officially launched service Monday aboard its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner — and TPG was on board the inaugural flight.

It’s a day that’s been in the making since 2018, when the Honolulu-based carrier first placed an order for a dozen of the new jets. Following a multi-year delay, the airline finally took delivery of its first Dreamliner in February, clearing the way for takeoff and showcasing stunning new interiors.

Hawaiian has an option for another eight planes, and the deliveries will open up more of the world to the carrier.

Hawaiian Airlines Flight 12, Hawaiian’s Dreamline inaugural flight, left Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) at 1:18 p.m. and arrived at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at 9:20 p.m.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG’s free biweekly Aviation newsletter.

It was a fun day taking in the inaugural flight festivities and flying aboard this brand-new Boeing jet. There were live music and hula dance performances while excited employees handed out leis to passengers.

It’s not only the new planes that make this an exciting time for the 95-year-old airline: The new jet is one part in a series of big changes for Hawaiian in the coming years.

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines announced in December that they would combine in a merger that would leave both brands standing, but with Alaska holding a controlling stake. The combined airline will also be part of the Oneworld alliance, which Alaska joined in early 2021.

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Related: Why the Alaska-Hawaiian merger could be a win-win for frequent flyers

Hawaiian’s growing fleet

Hawaiian has had a long wait for its Dreamliners. The 12th jet isn’t expected until 2027, and the airline has options for another eight. More broadly, the order caps a big move for the Hawaiian, which had relied on Airbus for its long-haul fleet since phasing out the Boeing 767 in 2019.

The 787 order (originally for just 10 planes) was first placed in March of 2018, though deliveries are now just three years behind schedule.

Hawaiian’s medium- to long-haul fleet consisted of Airbus A330s and Airbus A321neos.

For now, the airline will be flying Dreamliners mostly on routes between Hawaii and California and Arizona. Hawaiian will use the Dreamliner on its daily Honolulu-San Francisco service. Additionally, select flights between Honolulu and both Los Angeles and Phoenix will see Dreamliner service starting next month. Hawaiian plans to start Dreamliner service from Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG) to LA beginning Sept. 8.

Eventually, it’s possible the 787s could be used on longer routes to cities like Sydney potentially or even New York City. Below is the current long-haul map for Hawaiian flown by A330s, as displayed by aviation analytics firm Cirium.

“Our 787-9 is a true flagship product that, when paired with the award-winning hospitality of our crew, will provide guests with an unforgettable Hawaiʻi travel experience,” Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said in a press release touting the launch.

The Hawaiian Airlines Dreamliner

All of Hawaiian’s 787-9s will have Hawaiian names based on the stars and constellations that Polynesian navigators sailed by. The jet that flew Hawaiian’s inaugural to San Francisco is dubbed “Kapuahi,” which is the Hawaiian word for the star known as Aldebaran in Western astronomy. The plane bears the tail number N781HA.

During preflight announcements, flight co-pilot Mary Ann called out the aircraft’s name, saying: “[The] star the plane is named after appears in the Pacific sky. She’s beautiful inside and out.”

Hawaiian already took delivery of a second Dreamliner earlier this month with the ship number N780HA. The planes have room for 300 passengers, and they boost fuel efficiency, range and capacity as compared to Hawaiian’s existing fleet of wide-bodies.

The twin-aisle Dreamliners have 34 business-class suites in a 1-2-1 configuration spread across seven rows. Business class features an all-new, suite-style Adient Aerospace Ascent seats that can also be found on some Qatar Airways’ jets. Hawaiian gave me a quick look before boarding.

You can read all about the new business class in this article from my colleague Eric Rosen, who got a look at a press unveiling back in March.

I wasn’t lucky enough to snag a seat in the all-new business class cabin: It was completely sold out. However, I was excited just to be on a brand-new plane for this inaugural. In any case, the coach cabin was beautiful, too, with 266 Collins Aerospace Aspire seats.

I was assigned seat 33F, one of the 79 seats on this plane that are sold as Extra Comfort seats. When I checked in on the Hawaiian Airlines app, there were few seats left to choose from (aside from a few middle seats in the first section of the main cabin for an extra $4). I stuck with my bulkhead seat in the first row of the second cabin in the back.

Extra comfort seats have four additional inches of pitch, more legroom and AC outlets. Indeed, my seat in the aisle bulkhead in the middle three seats had a whopping 56 inches of pitch when I measured from the back of the seat to the bulkhead.

It was 35 inches from the front of the seat to the bulkhead.

There are a total of 266 seats in the back in a standard 3-3-3 configuration except in the back and at the bulkheads, where there are a few sets of two-seat rows.

The seats themselves are fabric and are well-padded despite the thinness of the seat. I love the turquoise coloring. Combined with the soft tropical colors of the ceiling cabin lighting, it gave an updated tropical vibe.

My seat padding was better than I expected. I never got sore despite sitting for about five hours total.

In fact, the thinness of the seats helps it feel roomier even when you are sitting in the narrower bulkhead seats. My seat measured 17 inches across, but the nonbulkhead coach seats measure a little wider at about 17 and a half inches.

The adjustable headrest was a nice touch and allowed me to rest in a few different head positions during flight. The recline of the seat was very shallow. I wouldn’t want to be in this seat for an overnight flight.

All coach seats have either a 12-inch seatback monitor or a monitor stowed in the armrest (for bulkhead seats). Also, there are USB-A and USB-C charging ports in the monitors.

There are also two fixed universal electric outlets underneath each set of three seats in the Extra Comfort section.

A large selection of new-release movies was available for viewing, including “Barbie,” “Ferrari” and “Past Lives,” as well as several Japanese and Korean films. I ended up watching a fascinating documentary called “Waterman” about the famed Olympic swimmer and native Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku.

The other notable thing in the cabin was the mood lighting said to reflect the many skies of Hawaii.

There were five bathrooms in the center of the coach cabin space in front of row 33 as well as another restroom in the very back of the plane. There was rarely a line during the flight, and they were kept clean throughout the journey.

I appreciated the coconut-scented liquid hand soap by Celeste Industries in the bathrooms. Plus, whenever the bathroom doors were shut, there was Hawaiian music playing inside the restroom.

One disappointing note is that there was no Wi-Fi onboard. Hawaiian just launched free high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi on select A321neo aircraft that it operates on California flights. Unfortunately, there won’t be Wi-Fi on the Dreamliners for some time. Hawaiian said it would “install and activate antennas on all its 18 A321neo aircraft by spring, followed by its A330s by the end of the year, and later its new flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787-9.”

That’s annoying for a brand-new plane.

Also, be aware that there are no air nozzles or gasper vents on the plane, so it’s up to flight attendants to keep the cabin cool.

A festive departure from HNL

There were no signs or balloons or any type of fanfare at the Terminal 1 check-in counters at HNL; however, the boarding gate more than made up for it with traditional Hawaiian music and a celebratory air.

Check-in at the airport was remarkably free of any signage for the big day, though I did mark the occasion on my own.

1 of 5

CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

The inaugural departed from A4 in HNL’s new concourse, which includes gates A1 through A12. The concourse, which opened in 2021, features 230,000 square feet and can accommodate six wide-body or 11 narrow-body gates. You could tell something big was going on.

AvGeeks like me took copious amounts of photos and videos of the new Dreamliner parked just outside the gate.

A number of passengers specifically booked the inaugural, hoping to experience Hawaiian’s milestone 787 flight.

“When they announced the inaugural, I said I had to be on that flight,” Raymond Centeno, a software developer who lives in Union City, California, said. “People thought I was crazy I flew in Saturday just to take the inaugural,” he told TPG. “I booked my ticket as soon as it was released on the website.. it was years in the making with the delay. I wasn’t sure when it would happen, but the day has finally come.

At the gate, the Hawaiian Airlines Serenaders sang and played instruments for about half an hour before boarding ceremonies fully kicked off.

This was followed by a performance from a male and a female hula dancer who had the crowd at the gate buzzing.

1 of 3

CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

A little later, there was a prayer ceremony followed by a formal Hawaiian blessing.

Finally, it was photo op time. Pilots for our flight — as well as other pilots taking part in the inaugural festivities — snapped photos using the Dreamliner as a background.

Boarding began with preboarding for passengers who needed extra time.

As passengers moved toward the boarding doors, Hawaiian employees greeted every passenger with “Aloha,” before placing a lei around each person’s neck.

All passengers were handed a commemorative bag tag honoring the inaugural Dreamliner flight. The metal tag had a note from Hawaiian explaining the significance of our Dreamliner: “Kapuahi, or ‘sacred fire,’ is the name of a red giant star that is one of the 15 brightest stars in the sky. Its fiery light shines forth as the eye of the bull in the constellation Taurus, a beacon to navigators who journey by signs seen and unseen.”

1 of 3

CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

Onboard Hawaiian Airlines flight 12

Boarding was a bit hectic as the plane was almost completely full.

There were lots of happy passengers as well as some who were just confused by all the fuss.

1 of 4

CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

Many passengers weren’t aware that it was an inaugural flight; this included the woman sitting next to me in seat 33E, who was traveling back with her family after a stay at the Disney Aulani Hotel in Honolulu. I talked to another couple, who quizzed me about credit card points after they found out I worked for TPG.

The flight was completely full, but everyone was in a good mood.

We eventually left the gate about 15 minutes after our 1:05 p.m. scheduled departure time. Passengers on HA 12 also got to see the carrier’s new inflight safety video. In it, 57 cast members, all Hawaiian Airlines employees and family members, give safety instructions from locations throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Taxiing took about half an hour. There were no water cannons on departure, but groups of Hawaiian Airlines employees waved as the Dreamliner taxied to the runway. We took off about 13 minutes late for our four-hour, 21-minute flight to San Francisco.

About 40 minutes after departure, flight attendants brought carts through the cabin with food for sale. Items included classic and children’s snack boxes for $8, sweet potato chips for $8.50 and Mananalu water in keepsake Hawaiian Airlines reusable aluminum bottles for $5 each.

I bought the “Made in Hawaii” snack sampler for $10.50. It included chocolate Carmel popcorn, Choco Mochi and two types of packaged macadamia nuts, among other treats. I used my Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®, and of course there was a credit card offer onboard as well for up to 65,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles. Too bad I already have the personal and business versions. The information for the Hawaiian Airline World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

After some noticeable clear-air turbulence, which the 787 handled beautifully, flight attendants served a light snack (for free). All passengers got a chicken sausage, mozzarella, Alfredo sauce, and Parmesan herb bagel roll. It was more like a delicious hot pocket, but it hit the spot. Of course, I had to try some delicious POG juice (passionfruit, orange and guava juice.) Passengers also got to choose from a selection of free beverages, including Coke products. As a special treat, flight attendants also gave out Kohana Mai Tai cocktails to those who wanted one. They normally sell those onboard for $8 bucks.

Passengers also got to choose from a selection of free beverages, including Coke products. As a special treat, flight attendants also gave out Kohana Mai Tai cocktails to those who wanted one. They normally sell those onboard for $8 bucks.

Service was excellent on this inaugural flight, as you’d expect. I found the nine flight attendants friendly and helpful. Even after the meal service, they came by frequently with bottled water to offer passengers cups of water.

About an hour before landing, flight attendants handed out pineapple-shaped cookies from Honolulu Cookies.