Hawaiian Airlines Takes Delivery Of First Boeing 787-9

Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 787-9

After years in the making, Hawaiian Airlines has finally taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

After completing a number of test flight at the Boeing South Carolina production plant in December and January, N781HA was ferried to Honolulu on February 14 for delivery to Hawaiian Airlines. What is most interesting is that this bird was the second to be produced for the airline.

Their first 787-9 registered N780HA made its first flight in June 2021, but has since been parked, most recently located at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California. Even though Hawaiian placed orders for its 787s since 2018, like many other carriers, they were forced to re-evaluate their position after the pandemic, and delayed delivery.

It’s also reported that N780HA suffered quality control issues with its paint job, requiring remedial work to be completed. As to the current status of the aircraft, we will just have to wait and see what’s going on.

Getting back to the star attraction, N781HA landed on ‘reef’ runway 26 left, which made it a bit challenging for spotters to get photos, but they did get video of the taxi in to the maintenance ramp. With this delivery out of the way, the airline still has 11 more Dreamliners expected to join the fleet over the next few years, including N780HA.

BRAND NEW Hawaiian Airlines 787 Dreamliner - First Time in Hawaii! - Feb 14th 2024

First commercial flight on April 15, 2024

If all goes to plans, Hawaiian’s first 787 flight will enter commercial service on April 15, 2024, flying from Honolulu (HNL) to San Francisco (SFO). They plan to operate this route for one month, before switching to Los Angeles (LAX) from May 14th. The LAX flights will be rotated between Honolulu and Maui (OGG) as follows:

RouteService Dates/InfoFlight Numbers
Between Honolulu (HNL) and San Francisco (SFO)Daily service starting April 15, 2024 through May 14, 2024HA12 (HNL-SFO) – Find Flight
HA11 (SFO-HNL) – Find Flight
Between Honolulu (HNL) and Los Angeles (LAX)Select service from May 14, 2024 onwardHA2 (HNL-LAX) – Find Flight
HA3 (LAX-HNL) – Find Flight
Between Maui (OGG) and Los Angeles (LAX)Select service from May 15, 2024 onwardHA34 (OGG-LAX) – Find Flight
HA33 (LAX-OGG) – Find Flight

New configuration

Hawaiian’s 787s will introduce a significantly upgraded medium and long haul experience with modern business class and economy products. In business, there are 34 customized lie-flat Adient Aerospace Ascent seats split in a 1-2-1 configuration. Each seat has an 18 inch in-flight entertainment display, wired (AC/DC/USB) and wireless charging access points and privacy screens. This is a change from the 2-2-2 config on their A330-200s.

Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 787-9 Business Class

In economy, there are 266 Collins Aerospace Aspire seats in a 3-3-3 configuration, each featuring 12-inch display with USB-A and USB-C charging ports. There is no dedicated premium economy cabin, but there are 79 Extra Comfort seats which offer additional legroom and AC power. This config is also a shift from the 2-4-2 layout on their current A330s.

Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 787-9 Economy

Depending on who you ask, this new layout could be considered an upgrade or downgrade. Given that Hawaii is mostly a leisure destination, a good chunk of travelers flying in and out tend to be people in various types of relationships who would prefer to sit together. The 3-3-3 economy and 1-2-1 layouts cut down the number of paired seats. This might be considered problematic, but of course you can’t please everyone. There are always going to be solo travelers, and this setup seems to do a decent job catering for both types of travelers.

[Featured Photo: Hawaiian Airlines ]

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