Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717s To Be Replaced With Boeing 737-800s

Alaska Airlines has announced that its Hawaiian-branded Boeing 717-200s used for Neighbor Island service will be phased out in favor of newer Boeing 737-800s.

It’s no secret that Hawaiian Airlines (now Alaska Airlines) has been on the search of a replacement for the Hawaiian T-tail interisland hopper. With most of them over 25 years old and racking up many more cycles than a usual aircraft, they are quickly reaching their end of life.

Alaska has announced that starting in 2028, some of its Boeing 737-800s will be transitioned to replace these aging 717s to operate the Neighbor Island service routes. These 737s will be painted in the Hawaiian Pualani livery, and brings over a number of upgrades already standard on Alaska aircraft.

In terms of capacity, the 717-200s seats 128 passengers, with eight in first class and 120 in economy, while Alaska’s 737s seat 161 passengers, with 16 in first class and 145 in economy (30 of those economy seats offering extra legroom).

Even on these short segments, passengers will be able to connect to Starlink Wi-Fi, and have access to 110v AC and USB power outlets in every seat.

CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, Diana Birkett Rakow, said:

“Neighbor Island service is part of the fabric of life in Hawai‘i, and we know how deeply our guests, employees and communities care about its future. This decision reflects our commitment to invest in Hawai‘i for the long term, to strengthen Hawaiian Airlines and to honor the local expertise, culture and care that have made Hawaiian the airline of Hawai‘i for nearly a century.”

To sustain frequency and capacity and meet the needs of Hawaii’s communities in the near-term before the transition to the future Hawaiian-branded 737-800 fleet begins, Alaska Airlines will add one Alaska-branded Boeing 737 aircraft to the Neighbor Island schedule.

Beginning in October, this aircraft will operate three daily round trips between Honolulu (HNL) and Kahului (OGG). The aircraft will operate from Terminal 1 at Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and passengers on these flights will check in at Terminal 1.

For quite some time, there have been many discussions as to what Hawaiian (now Alaska) would use to replace their 717s. Some thought maybe Boeing 737 MAX 7s, others speculated that maybe they should go with smaller spec Airbus A220s. Ultimately, the 737-800s are a decent choice, and even with the question of whether they can fill those extra seats, it might not be all bad as Southwest is scaling back its Hawaiian island operations.

Southwest’s 2027 schedule shows them reducing capacity by as much as 36% compared to what was offered this year. They also plan to move towards a more hub and spoke model rather than offering direct flights from all island airports. They will focus all operations out of Honolulu, stopping its Kahului-Kona (KOA) and Kahului-Lihue (LIH) segments.

Southwest is also at a disadvantage as their MAX 8s have a much higher seating capacity at 175 passengers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they replace them with Boeing 737 MAX 7s once those birds are certified. Hawaiian travelers also value frequency over capacity, so Alaska still has the upper hand here once they maintain their present schedule and connectivity.

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