While Hawaiian Airlines only operates three different aircraft types, its fleet boasts considerable diversity. The Honolulu-based airline serves the island state with narrowbody aircraft from both sides of the Airbus-Boeing duopoly, as well as twin-aisle jets from the European manufacturer. Let’s take a look at the present makeup of the carrier’s fleet.
A rare Boeing 717 operator
According to data from ch-aviation.com, Hawaiian Airlines presently has 62 aircraft in its fleet. Of these, arguably the most interesting are its Boeing 717-200s. Hawaiian is a rare operator of this rear-engined narrowbody, with 19 examples of the type at its disposal.
Of these, an impressive 16 are presently active. These classic twinjets are the oldest aircraft in the carrier’s fleet, with an average age of 19.9 years old. It typically deploys them on intra-Hawaii ‘island hopping‘ services, which sees them rack up flight cycles quickly.
Hawaiian Airlines’ Boeing 717s each seat 128 passengers. The bulk of these make up the jet’s 120-seat economy class cabin, which is laid out in a five-abreast (3-2) configuration. However, eight lucky passengers at the front of the plane get to enjoy reckoning business class seats in an exclusive two-row cabin. Here, there are two seats on each side of the aisle.
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Hawaiian’s new Airbus A321neos
At the more modern end of the spectrum, Hawaiian Airlines also operates next-generation narrowbodies from Airbus. These come in the form of the European manufacturer’s stretched-fuselage A321, of which Hawaiian has 18 examples in its present fleet. They are just three years old on average, and represent the future of narrowbodies at Hawaiian.
At the time of writing, ch-aviation listed 17 of Hawaiian’s 18 A321neos as being active. The only exception was N208HA, which is presently in storage at the airline’s Honolulu hub.
N208HA, along with its 17 active counterparts, seats 189 passengers. 129 of these make up the economy cabin, with 44 Extra Comfort seats boasting additional legroom. There is also a 16-seat first class cabin, whereby passengers enjoy reclining seats in a 2-2 configuration.
Long-haul: Airbus A330 and future plans
The most numerous aircraft type in Hawaiian Airlines’ current fleet is the widebody Airbus A330. The carrier flies 24 examples of the -200 version of this twinjet, of which all 24 are presently listed as being active. They rank in the middle of Hawaiian’s fleet in terms of their age, clocking in at 8.5 years old on average. Hawaiian has flown the A330 since 2010.
While the premium cabins on Hawaiian’s narrowbodies have recliner seats, the A330 features full flatbeds. Each aircraft has 18 of these in the front of the cabin, laid out in a six-abreast (2-2-2) configuration. There are also 68 Economy Comfort seats, offering passengers 36 inches of legroom compared to the 31 available in the 192 standard economy seats.
In terms of the future of Hawaiian’s long-haul fleet, it had looked as if the new A330neo would be the aircraft that would modernize this aspect of its operations. However, the airline canceled its order for six A330-800s in March 2018. It replaced these with an order for 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, which are set to begin arriving at the carrier next year.
What do you make of Hawaiian Airlines’ present fleet? Which of its different aircraft types have you flown on? Let us know our thoughts and experiences in the comments.