Hawaiian 787 Pualani Livery No More As All Repainted In Alaska’s New Global Theme

It was fun while it lasted, but the short-lived Hawaiian Airlines 787 Pualani livery is no more.

Less than two years ago, Hawaiian Airlines put its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner into service, as it moved towards modernizing its fleet and expanding to new territories. However, Hawaiian had a problem. After years of consistently turning a net profit, the carrier’s financial position flipped upside down. As a result of the fallout from the pandemic, Hawaiian reported year-end losses from 2020 up to the time they merged with Alaska Airlines.

Credit: Bradley Wint/Gate Checked

The Hawaiian island chain as a whole saw much weaker demand from its usual Japanese visitors, and the airline also had to manage engine issues affecting its fleet of Pratt and Whitney-powered Airbus A321neos. They also dealt with higher inter-island operating costs including having to spend more to keep its fleet of Boeing 717s in service. It didn’t help either that Southwest also operates quite a few flights around the island chain as well.

In comes Alaska Airlines to save the day, closing the acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines on September 18, 2024. However, this also meant that parts of Hawaiian’s identity would be lost as the two airlines become one. For starters, Alaska used the opportunity to enter the long-haul market with Hawaiian’s fleet of Boeing 787-9s, relegating a number of Hawaiian routes to their older Airbus A330-200s.

Alaska Airlines would later announce that it would introduce a new “Global” livery specifically for the 787s as part of its new long-haul strategy.

Credit: Alaska Airlines

“Our new 787 exterior embodies Alaska’s transition to a global airline with beauty, grace and a nod to our heritage. As we significantly expand to new destinations around the globe, we’re eager for more and more travelers to recognize our new livery as being Alaska Airlines and appreciate the outstanding service we’ve long been known for.”

The first to receive the new coat was the all-white N784HA, while the other remaining four (N780HA, N781HA, N782HA and N783HA) which previously wore the Pualani livery, were repainted in Alaska’s new theme over the last few months. On the inside, these Dreamliners still reflect Hawaiian’s original branding, but Alaska plans to do a retrofit at some point in the near future to fully transition the finishings to suit their new design.

Hawaiian Airbus to slowly phase out A330s for Boeing 787-10s

Hawaiian has a fleet of 24 Airbus A330-200s, playing a pivotal role connecting the island chain to both the U.S. mainland and parts of Asia and the Pacific. Even though their average age hovers around 12 1/2 years old, they do look a bit dated on the inside, with their older IFE entertainment systems and paired business class configured seats.

The good news is that Alaska is planning full cabin retrofit for some of these birds starting in 2028, but they will also phase out four units by the same year in favor of a mix of newer Boeing 787-10s and 737 MAX 10s. Even though the 787-10s are welcome news, I suspect we’ll see even more identity loss here as they most likely will also wear the Global livery on introduction.

Alaska will take deliver of five Boeing 787-10s which were previously converted from 787-9 orders. They also expect seven more -9s from Hawaiian’s original order. As for 737 MAX 10s, Alaska plans to take on 168 units once the aircraft is certified for commercial service.

Alaska has repositioned its 787-9 fleet out of Seattle (SEA), with plans to target over 12 international destinations by 2030. They will continue flights to Seoul (ICN) and Tokyo (NRT), and will start service to Rome (FCO) and London (LHR) from April and May 2026 respectively.  

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