When flying Hawaiian Airlines, you can look forward to an improved flying experience.
The Honolulu-based carrier formally showcased the interiors of its brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on Monday. These aircraft will begin joining the fleet in November.
The Leihoku Suite, a brand-new seat exclusively for Hawaiian travelers, is available in business class. Seatback screens, power outlets, and other amenities are included in the economy cabin to improve passenger comfort.
This aircraft will likely become Hawaiian's fleet flagship thanks to a few more nose-to-tail enhancements.
12 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners are on order, so you'll soon see these fuel-efficient aircraft flying over the Pacific to locations in the continent and Asia.
Here is all the information you require regarding the new Dreamliners from Hawaiian.
Hawaiian Airlines' Boeing 787 Dreamliner's business class
Hawaiian Airlines will finally provide a top-notch business-class product once its Dreamliners go into service. The 34 business class suites on board these twin-aisle aircraft will be arranged in seven rows in a 1-2-1 layout.
Hawaiian chose the Ascent product from Adient Aerospace for its business-class cabin; the airline is promoting it as the Leihoku, or garland of stars, suite.
Qatar Airways already flies these suites on board its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, despite Hawaiian Airlines being billed as the product's first customer. (Hawaiian was scheduled to be the first airline to fly the Ascent product, but delivery issues caused Qatar to take the lead.)
I've taken the Ascent product on flights on Qatar's Dreamliners, and it's a quite pleasant pod, especially after the sliding doors are closed.
Most intriguingly, the design of the product combines an inward- and outward-facing arrangement across the cabin. To maximize seclusion, the window pods face away from the aisle, while the center seats face one another.
Although this design may not be ideal in areas where lone travelers are prevalent, it is ideal for Hawaiian's leisure-oriented clientele.
That's because most passengers on the airline aren't going on business. According to Avi Mannis, chief marketing and communications officer at Hawaiian Airlines, "We have a lot more couples, we have a lot more families, and there are a lot more women in the business-class cabin."
According to Mannis, the product's center seats will be ideal for the carrier's target market. The three-tiered privacy partition can be lowered to the ground by flyers. When the doors to the apartment are shut, they can "create this really lovely living room experience for two people traveling together... we think that's going to be incredibly appealing for our market," he added.
An 18-inch entertainment screen, universal AC, USB-A, and USB-C ports, and Qi wireless charging pads are further features.
Each seat may be converted into a flat bed when it's time to sleep. To make sleeping on Hawaiian Dreamliners even better, the airline added starry ceiling lights above the business-class cabin. I have yet to see a U.S. airline imitate this premium service that Emirates made popular.
This mood lighting is promoted by Hawaiian as invoking the constellations that helped Polynesian explorers at night. This is a component of the design concept the airline developed in collaboration with renowned consultant Teague to commemorate Pacific naval navigation in a contemporary aircraft.
Hawaiian Airlines' Boeing 787 Dreamliner's economy class
The Dreamliners will have 266 economy seats in an industry-standard 3-3-3 arrangement in addition to business class. The airline hired Collins Aerospace to provide the well-liked Aspire coach seat from the company.
Hawaiian claims that the new design of these seats gives passengers greater shoulder and hip room, although they are not quite as comfortable as some other budget seats in the air.
While the majority of seats have a 31-inch pitch, 79 economy seats will be marketed as Extra Comfort, which has a 4-inch-longer pitch, more room for your legs, and access to universal AC outlets.
All coach seats, including those in the Extra Comfort section, will have 12-inch seatback TV displays with USB-A and USB-C charging outlets.
Nose-to-tail features on Hawaiian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Hawaiian like to include local culture in the customer experience and this design philosophy is permeating the airline's new Dreamliners. We pushed for customization of minor aspects that other people would not have considered or bothered with, according to Mannis.
Hawaii's native wood grains served as inspiration for the welcome area next to Door 2L, and the purple overhead lighting in this space is fashioned after a local flower.
Supposedly reflecting sights from the Hawaiian archipelago, such as soft daylight and calming sunrises and sunsets, the nose-to-tail mood lighting. Deep aqua carpeting is intended to evoke a feeling of the ocean.
The Hawaiian language is also used on placards throughout the plane and is blended into seat numbers. The female and male figurines on the restroom occupancy signs are dressed in Hawaiian shirts and outfits.
You can tell that you are traveling with Hawaiian Airlines no matter where you look.
What's missing on Hawaiian's Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Hawaiian's new Dreamliners are lacking several important items.
A premium economy cabin is the first. Since it provides an enhanced experience that largely replicates domestic first class without costing an arm and a leg for a lie-flat business-class suite, this cabin has seen a surge in popularity in recent years.
The Big Three U.S. Airlines all operate aircraft with the premium economy on a few long-haul routes to Hawaii, but the state's flag carrier declined to make the necessary financial commitment to include this cabin on the Dreamliner.
Our impression was that the demand would necessitate a relatively compact cabin, according to Mannis. Because of the additional bulkhead and galley space required to support such a product, he claimed that a one- or two-row premium economy cabin wouldn't be commercially viable.
Additionally, the Bluetooth link needed to connect your AirPods or other wireless headphones to the seatback entertainment system is not available on Hawaiian's Dreamliners. That's unfortunate for a brand-new plane that will be delivered in 2023.
The absence of power plugs in the regular economy seats is another amenity. But Hawaiian made that decision on purpose, partially to persuade some passengers to upgrade to the Extra Comfort seats, which do have outlets.
Last but not least, Wi-Fi won't be installed in the Dreamliners at first. The Dreamliners won't have an internet connection until "the next year or so," according to Mannis, even though Hawaiian has teamed with Elon Musk's Starlink to deliver quick and free Wi-Fi across its medium- and long-haul fleet.
As unexpected as it may seem, Hawaiian is giving other aircraft priority over the Dreamliner for Starlink installations.
In conclusion
Hawaiian's new Dreamliners appear to be a significant upgrade over the airline's current Airbus A330s, especially for passengers situated at the pointy end of the aircraft.
Hawaiian will soon provide one of the greatest premium goods on routes to and from Hawaii, with a premium product that includes direct aisle access and sliding doors.
The first of Hawaiian's 12 Dreamliners will be delivered in November, with the remaining 12 scheduled for delivery in 2027.
Before deploying its 787s on longer trips to Boston, Sydney, and other destinations, the airline will first begin flying the aircraft to the West Coast, where it maintains maintenance facilities.
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