Hawaiian Announces Initial A321neo Routes

Hawaiian announces initial A321neo routes as the airline readies to receive its first aircraft around the end of the year.

Hawaiian Airlines will begin receiving Airbus A321neo’s towards the end of 2017.  Previously, the airline announced that these aircraft would be replacing their aging Boeing 767 fleet.  However, just yesterday, Hawaiian announced the first three routes their new medium-haul jets will serve.

Initial A320neo Routes

Hawaiian’s first three A321neo routes aren’t actually new routes.  Instead, these narrow-body aircraft will replace the current wide-body aircraft serving these three routes seasonally.  The routes in question are:

• Portland, Oregon – Kahului, Maui
• Oakland, California – Lihue, Kauai
• Los Angeles, California – Kona, Big Island

The PDX-OGG route will be the first to launch on January 18, 2018.  It will be followed by OAK-LIH on April 11, 2018.  And the final route, LAX-KOA, will commence service in the summer of 2018.  These routes will actually be discontinued as planned in accordance with the standard seasonal schedule.  But once they resume service with the A321neo, these routes will become daily, year-round routes.

Hawaiian’s A320neo

Back in 2013, Hawaiian Air signed a purchase agreement with Airbus for 16 A321neo and 9 options.  But since then, it seems as if Hawaiian has exercised two of those options, with the airline now expecting deliver of 18 A321neos between the end of this year and 2020.

Each aircraft will seat a total of 189 passengers in a three-class configuration.  There will be a total of 16 first class seats, 45 extra comfort seats, and 128 economy seats.  However, the aircraft will not be equipped with seat-back IFE like the current A330 fleet.  Instead, Hawaiian has opted for a wifi-based system, similar to that found aboard Alaska Airlines.  Unfortunately, Hawaiian will not be providing a power outlet at every seat either, as is the norm amongst most U.S. carriers today.  Power outlets will only be available to extra comfort and first class passengers.

But, despite it’s shortcomings, the A321neos do promise an updated version of Hawaii’s current cabin design.  So far the new design looks quite stunning in the provided renderings.  How they’ll look in real life, though, remains to be seen.

The Future of the A321neo at Hawaiian

While we now know what routes will receive these new aircraft first, there are still many more routes this fleet can operate.  18 aircraft is not a tiny subfleet for Hawaiian, so it’ll be interesting to see how they deploy them in the future.  I have heard rumors, though, that the aircraft will be used to down-gauge other routes like Papeete, Tahiti.  And they may be used as Hawaiian’s primary aircraft to all West Coast destinations too, especially as its competitors all down-gauge to narrow-body aircraft.  That being said, I do believe the A330 will continue to play a role in Hawaiian’s West Coast fleet, as routes like HNL-LAX and HNL-LAS are consistently full.

Hawaiian Announces Initial A321neo Routes, Final Thoughts

With the announcement of the first three routes, it’s clear that the A321neo’s entry into service is nearing.  I personally am not a fan of narrow-bodies, as I prefer the 2+4+2 seating of Hawaiian’s current A330 fleet.  However, if these new aircraft brings with them new routes and increased frequencies, then I’m all for it.  And as I’ve said earlier, these three routes are just the beginning.  I do believe that the A321neos will bring with it new routes and will be used to replace Hawaiian’s 767 fleet.  We’ll just have to wait and see what additional routes these aircraft get assigned to, and what Hawaiian will do with freed-up A330s when they eventually down-gauge a few of those routes too.