is the 12th largest commercial
Airline in the
United States . It is the largest airline based in the
State Of Hawai'i and is commonly referred to by the
Acronym "HAL". Hawaiian Airlines' hub is located at
Honolulu International Airport in
Honolulu, Hawai'i ; it is one of three airlines that have their hubs there (the others are
Aloha Airlines and
Island Air ). HAL has
Code Sharing agreements with
Alaska Airlines ,
America West Airlines ,
American Airlines ,
Continental Airlines ,
Island Air ,
Northwest Airlines , and
Virgin Atlantic Airways .
Hawaiian Airlines was founded by the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company as Inter-Island Airways on
January 30 1929 and started operations on
November 11 1929 . On
October 1 1941 the name was simplified to Hawaiian Airlines when the company phased out its older Sikorsky flying boats. In
1966 jet travel started with the acquisition of
Douglas DC-9 aircraft, which cut travel times in half on most of the routes. In
1984 , the company began to operate charter services to the South Pacific using
Douglas DC-8 aircraft, and soon they added
Lockheed L-1011 aircraft to their fleet for West Coast services. As the west coast market grew, the South Pacific market shrunk, and so service was reduced when the company's DC-8's were retired in
1993 , and when the L-1011's were replaced in favor of the
Douglas DC-10 in
1994 . The company replaced these leased DC-10's with 14 leased
Boeing 767 aircraft during the fleet modernization, and replaced the DC-9's with
Boeing 717 aircraft (the last member of that same family).
Hawaiian Airlines filed for Chapter 11
Bankruptcy protection on
March 21 2003 with operations still continuing, and is overdue for $4.5 million USD worth of payments to the pilots'
Pension plan. Within the company, it has been suggested that the plan be terminated. As of May 2005, Hawaiian Airlines had received court approval of its reorganization plan. The company emerged from bankruptcy protection on
June 2 ,
2005 with reduced operating costs through renegotiated contracts with its union work groups, restructured aircraft leases and investment from RC Aviation, a unit of
San Diego -based Ranch Capital, which bought a majority share in parent company Hawaiian Holdings Inc in
2004 .
Hawaiian has never had a fatal accident in its entire history, and is the oldest US carrier with such a distinction (the others have not been around for more than 40 years). Hawaiian Airlines has been the number one on-time carrier since 2004. Also number one in fewest Cancelations, Baggage Handling, and fewest oversales. Hawaiian Airlines is rated the best carrier serving Hawaii by Travel and Leisure, Zagat, CondeNast, and also the Department of Transportation for an interisland flight]]
The Hawaiian Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at December 2005):
- 11 Boeing 717-200 (for inter-island Hawaiian flights)
- 14 Boeing 767-300ER (to or from Hawaii, US Mainland and South Pacific) An additional 4 767-300 (non-ER) aircraft, formerly operated by Delta Air Lines , have been purchased as of February 2006 and will be introduced to the fleet upon completion of necessary modifications.
The average Hawaiian Airlines fleet age is 5.1 years old in march 2006, one of the youngest fleets in the nation.
