Hawaiian Needed Three Airplanes to Get Me Home (Trip Report)

This was supposed to be a nice and easy flight home from Honolulu after a great trip. I had been sitting on a ton of points from last October when Hawaiian canceled a couple flights impacting four people for whom we used miles, so my goal was to use those here. Unfortunately, between LA and Long Beach, the best I could do was 30,000 points for coach. I took it, but then I kept watching. Sure enough, the morning flight to LAX opened up a seat in First Class for 40,000 miles so I jumped on it quickly. I like the morning flight anyway, so this was not a sacrifice. It’s so much better to get home mid-afternoon.

If only that’s what happened.

I got to the airport about an hour before departure. They had us leaving from gate D2 in the old overseas Terminal 2. This is good since the checkpoint closest to Hawaiian’s main A gates does not have TSA Precheck anyway. The next checkpoint was closer. On the other hand, this was a bummer, because I wanted to see the new Mauka Concourse A gates which opened a couple years back.

I had no idea that First Class on Hawaiian includes access to the Premier Club, but I didn’t have time to stop. I got to gate D2 just as our airplane started boarding.

Hawaiian 10September 10, 2024

From Honolulu➤ Scheduled Departure: 755a➤ Actual Departure: 815a, returned 838a, out again 1126a, returned 1157a, gave up➤ From Gate: D2, returned to A12, moved to A6, returned to C3➤ Wheels Up: don’t care➤ From Runway: ??

To Los Angeles➤ Wheels Down: a couple hours after I got back➤ On Runway: ?? ➤ Scheduled Arrival: 420p➤ Actual Arrival: close to midnight➤ At Gate: ??

Aircraft➤ Type: Airbus A330-243➤ Delivered: 2013, then 2017➤ Registered: N374HA, then N361HA, then something else➤ Livery: Maile Lei colors

Flight➤ Cabin: First in Seat 2J➤ Load: pretty full➤ Flight Time: no matter

I took my seat in row 2, and I couldn’t help but notice that it was pretty tired.

Things were peeling in various areas, and even worse, it was dirty in all the crevices. The bandage on the floor, however, was a nice touch.

I settled in and was excited, because this airplane was equipped with Starlink wifi. It’s usable on the ground, so I turned off my mobile connection and surfed away while we waited. It was fast. Meanwhile, my seatmate apparently decided it was time to treat this airplane like her home.

I would have the pleasure of crawling over those any time I needed to get out.

We got close to departure time at 7:55am, and then the captain came on to tell us we’d be a little late because of some maintenance paperwork. We pushed back 20 minutes late, and then we sat there. I started getting a bad feeling as we kept waiting.

Sure enough, the captain came on with the bad news. Some part they had replaced was working fine but now they were getting some fault or warning light or something. (She didn’t give detail.) We were going back to the gate to fix it.

This was annoying, but what was more annoying is that our gate was taken. We were towed very slowly all the way around to gate A12 on the new Mauka concourse blocking in at 8:38am. We would wait there to find our fate.

After about half an hour, they told us it wasn’t going to be fixed soon, so they said they had a new airplane for us. We would all get off and head over to gate A6.

They told us they would have to service this airplane before we could leave. They didn’t give us any timeline, but I knew it was going to take awhile.

On the bright side, this gave me the opportunity to walk around the Mauka Concourse. It’s very nice with high ceilings, good lighting, and all that.

But, it is severely lacking in food options. There’s just a little Dunkin’ kiosk and then a “Mauka Market.”

You’d think the state would have done more when they built this.

I moseyed back over to A6. The update said we’d leave at 10:30am, but that was clearly not happening. We started boarding around that time, and we all took our same seats with the same crew. Sadly, there was no bandage available at my seat this time.

This A330 was one of the handful that hadn’t had Starlink installed yet. Damn. They are all now done, so this was just bad luck.

This was a newer airplane, but the seats still had that same grime in the cracks. And the back shell in front of me was scratched up with black marks.

Our captain came on and told us they were all ready up front but they were just waiting for cargo to finish up. This was around 11 when she said it, but I didn’t realize that cargo hadn’t even really started. It was several minutes later I saw them open the front cargo door and start loading pallets in the aircraft underneath me. Why did this take so long to start? I wish I knew.

We left the gate at 11:26am, and then we sat there for a bit. At first I didn’t think twice about it, but then it seemed like the throttles were being pushed forward a little, and we weren’t moving. Also, there was a light smell of burning oil or something like that.

The flight attendants didn’t know anything, but our captain eventually came on once again and apologized. Due to a “bad smell” we had to go back to the gate again. But guess what? We wouldn’t go back to A6. No, this time, we taxied under our own power all the way over to gate C3 where we blocked in at 11:57am, completing our tour de airport.

Nobody said if we were staying on the airplane or what at this point, but people were starting to get really angry, and vocally so. My seatmate was going to miss her connection to the east coast, so was her friend across the way. They were all on separate tickets, and they thought they had left enough buffer. They were wrong, and they were obviously not pleased.

One woman in a row behind started swearing angrily, fairly loudly. The entire First cabin began talking to each other. The woman with her husband and two small kids in the front row looked stunned. On the way out from LA, she had a rejected takeoff on the 7am departure. In the end, they didn’t leave until 1:30am for a dreaded westbound redeye. She just couldn’t believe this was happening to her again.

The updates started coming in on my phone. The new departure time would be 3:45pm with an arrival just before midnight. The groans were both loud and resigned as we once again trudged off the aircraft.

I had assumed that the delay this time was due to a crew change since they’d time out. Sure enough, I saw the pilots walking out of the airport while our new, third airplane sat at its gate waiting for someone to fly it.

I had no interest in waiting until 3:45pm to get in at midnight. I was already exhausted and pretty thirsty… I don’t believe they passed drinks around after the initial pre-departure drinks much earlier that morning. Coach probably had been given nothing.

I had some choices to make. I thought about waiting until the next day and starting again, but then, someone on my Cranky Concierge team noted that there were a couple First Class seats left on Hawaiian 2 leaving at 1:30pm. This was operated by the new 787, and it would get me back before 10pm. This wasn’t terrible, so I decided to try for it.

The app didn’t allow any changes, and I generally find the Hawaiian reservations team to not be very helpful in non-standard situations. I decided to try to find a gate agent, but when I got off the airplane, I didn’t see a single person working our gate. I’ll admit that this is when I texted a contact at Hawaiian to ask if he could move me over. I wasn’t asking for a special favor, because I know this should have been allowed for anyone in this situation. I just needed to find someone to actually make the change.

A few minutes later, he got back saying that I’d been switched, and I had seat 9L. I still wasn’t particularly interested in extending my day this long, but this seemed like the best possible plan at that time. Even better, the flight was at the gate right next door to where we were last dumped off.

After getting my boarding pass, I walked up just as First Class was boarding. Again.

Hawaiian 2September 10, 2024

From Honolulu➤ Scheduled Departure: 130p➤ Actual Departure: 127p➤ From Gate: C4➤ Wheels Up: 145p➤ From Runway: 8R

To Los Angeles➤ Wheels Down: 916p➤ On Runway: 24R➤ Scheduled Arrival: 945p➤ Actual Arrival: 923p➤ At Gate: 208

Aircraft➤ Type: Boeing 787-9➤ Delivered: February 14, 2024➤ Registered: N781HA, msn 66429➤ Livery: Maile Lei colors

Flight➤ Cabin: First in Seat 9J➤ Load: ~99% Full➤ Flight Time: 4h31m

After two beat-up A330s, the 787 was literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air. The entry with the wood floors and sidewall design is just beautiful.

The mood lighting was going in full force. I went over to my seat and took a look around.

The A330s still hand out tablets, but this 787 had a big screen staring at me.

They also had noise-canceling headphones which were ok but not what they should be. I just used my own.

After I took my seat, I just sat there staring and thinking how tired I was. Soon enough, it was time to push back, and we went 3 minutes early. I was not willing to breathe a sigh of relief until we got in the air, something that miraculously happened just a few minutes later.

We climbed out over the islands, and I reclined my seat a bit. The windows were dimmed by the flight attendants, but I undimmed mine, because it’s my window, damnit. At least they didn’t lock it.

There is no Starlink on this aircraft type yet, but I still wanted to get some work done. I opened up my computer and… crap. I had left my charger on the other airplane. Isn’t that just the cherry on top? (It was never found.)

The flight attendants came through with cold macadamia nuts and I had a mai tai which went down a little too easy.

Then it was time for food. We had moved from the original breakfast to lunch on this flight, so I opted for the coconut and lemongrass braised chicken which was pretty decent. The yuzu potato salad and kalo Hawaiian roll weren’t bad, but that was all I had. I skipped dessert.

Once finished, one of the flight attendants came through and unlocked my door so I could close it. I still don’t get the door thing. Here’s with the door open.

Here’s a really terrible picture with the door closed.

I still can’t see anyone either way unless they walk by, and then, as you see above, I can see everyone.

I leaned back and watched some movies. The selection of new releases wasn’t great, so I watched a few older mindless comedies. I also noticed that the butt padding isn’t great in this seat. Maybe it just needs to be broken in, or maybe it’ll be something that needs attention in the future.

At one point I went for a walk around the airplane. It is a very nice-looking plane in all classes. They did a good job designing this, and the flight attendants told me it’s a pleasure to work.

I stopped in the lav and was highly amused by the music/chirping birds being piped in. There was really a lot of thought put into this airplane. Alaska is inheriting something pretty impressive here.

About an hour out, the sky turned dark, but the stars had come out… at least, inside the aircraft.

I was getting restless. Finally, around a half hour out, it was time to descend. We came in from the north, and I was on the right, so it remained pitch black most of the initial descent. I just sat there watching the moving map and munching on the Honolulu Cookie Co. cookie they handed out.

Once over Oxnard, I saw some lights, and from there the LA Basin unfolded ahead of us. It wasn’t long before we touched down.

Unfortunately, Hawaiian has really gotten the shaft by being forced into the Midfield Concourse in the Bradley Terminal. It is a long walk through the concourse, down the stairs, under the taxiway, up the stairs, through the other concourse, and out toward baggage claim.

I got on the LAXit bus, so I could get to my rideshare, but it was crawling. It probably took us 20 minutes to get over to the lot. I poured myself into the car and only about 25 minutes later, I was finally home.

Hawaiian Needed Three Airplanes to Get Me Home (Trip Report)

Hawaiian Needed Three Airplanes to Get Me Home (Trip Report)

Hawaiian Needed Three Airplanes to Get Me Home (Trip Report)

Hawaiian Needed Three Airplanes to Get Me Home (Trip Report)

Hawaiian Needed Three Airplanes to Get Me Home (Trip Report)