Hawaiian Airlines celebrates 75 years of flight

Hawaiian Airlines today celebrates the 75th anniversary of its first scheduled flights.

At 10:30am on 11 November, 1929 thousands of cheering onlookers watched two Sikorsky S-38 amphibious biplanes take off from John Rodgers Field (later Honolulu International Airport), bound for Hilo, with a stop on Maui.

The aircraft, named after the islands of Hawaii and Maui, each carried two crew and a full load of eight passengers occupying wicker seats.

And at midday, history was made when the two planes touched down on a new airstrip at Hilo, where passengers and crew were greeted by community leaders and another cheering crowd.

“The arrivals at Hilo on this day in 1929 were of great historical and economic importance for Hawaii, and for our company,” said Mark Dunkerley, president and chief operating officer of Hawaiian Airlines.

“Today, we reach another exciting milestone for Hawaii and Hawaiian Airlines, achieving 75 years of continuous scheduled service,” he said.

“It is fitting that one of our first services on this anniversary day will be flight HA22 from Sydney to Honolulu - our newest and longest route, which was launched earlier in our 75th anniversary year, and has led to a resurgence of Australian tourist and conference travel to Hawaii.”

Hawaiian Airlines operates approximately 117 scheduled flights each day to six island locations in Hawaii and eight US mainland cities, plus international services from Honolulu to Sydney, Tahiti and American Samoa.

Through partnerships with other carriers, Hawaiian also offers code shared flights to some 50 destinations on the US mainland plus four in Canada and eight in Mexico, as well as new services to secondary ports on Hawaiian neighbour islands through a relationship with regional carrier Island Air.

The airline operates a fleet of 26 new Boeing jets - 13 252-seat B767-300ER aircraft for trans Pacific operations, and 11 123-seat Boeing 717s for high-frequency inter-island services.

See other recent news from: Hawaiian Airlines