Our Big Adventure
Flight Review: Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu to Kona
Last year I had to take a day trip to the Big Island for work, so I decided to extend it to a quick 4-day trip. The default choice for traveling inter-island, and especially the Big Island, is Hawaiian Airlines. Despite this being a short trip, I needed to check a bag thanks to a the photography gear I’d be lugging with me, and arrived at the airport an hour early for my 6:22 a.m. departure. After dropping my bag off, I headed toward the Hawaiian Airlines terminal TSA check-point. Unfortunately they don’t open Pre-Check here until 7am despite the intense volume of passengers flying at this time, especially business travelers. The lines were really long and the whole experience was made worst by a Hawaiian employee constantly yelling about a specific line being reserved for HawaiianMiles Elite and first class passengers only.
Ones through, I headed to my gate at the far end of the Hawaiian terminal (gates in the 50 range), which is the former Aloha Airlines terminal. Boarding time came and past with zero update from Hawaiian’s ground staff regarding the status of my flight. It would be a few more minutes before a gate agent announced that our flight has been delayed due to technical issues with our aircraft. Almost 30 minutes later it was announced that we’d be having an equipment swap and would need to head over to the other side of the terminal.
HA338, HNL – KOA, Boeing 717-200
Once most of the passengers arrived at the new gate, along with the gate personnel and crew, boarding commenced. The flight was full, but boarding was pretty quick.
Finally, over 45 minutes late, the flight attendants close the door and we push back for our 40 minute flight to Keahole, the Kona International Airpot.
After a quick 5 minute taxi we were immediately cleared for takeoff from HNL’s runway 8L.
Thanks to my last minute booking, I was seated all the way in the back, near the engines. So with the roar of the 717’s BMW Rolls-Royce BR700 turbofan engines, we rocketed down the runway and were airborne in no time.
If you sit on the port side of the aircraft (the side with 2 seats/row) you’ll be treated with great views of downtown Honolulu, Waikiki, and Diamond Head on the climb out.
Thanks to the thick cloud cover, I wasn’t able to see Lanai, Molokai, and Maui from our cruising altitude. Instead, I decided to read Hawaiian’s in-flight magazine, “Hana Hou!” and sip on some Passion Orange juice.
And in no time we were descending toward the lava desert that in the Keahole area of Kailua-Kona.
After touching down it was a quick taxi to the “gate.”
Yup, if you’ve never been to Kona International Airport, it’s the last airport in the state with long-haul service that doesn’t have jet bridges. The operations here are all air stairs/ramps with completely open air terminals, baggage claim areas, and check-in lobbies.
This can be good and bad, as you don’t have any protection from the elements, and waiting for your flight can be uncomfortable, but for AvGeeks, you can get some nice shots of your aircraft ?
After de-planing, it was a short walk to the baggage claim, a 20 minute wait for my bag, and then it was off to the car rental facilities.
Unfortunately, this was a somewhat rough start to my short trip to the Big Island. While I’d like to say this is an isolated event, you’ll see in my future posts that this is a somewhat regular experience for me.
KOA airport is lousy. It’s basically a bunch of benches and a snack bar. I was stranded there once on a flight back to ORD. The long wait, and confusion, and ultimately waiting for our bags and the shuttle bus over to the beat up hotel they put us up in made me seriously reconsider ever playing UA again. I have to say, HA is a great airline. I have had zero issues with them. The FAs that fly inter-island routes have such an easy job. Yes, lots of flights, but flying 717s means not many big bags to deal with, a quick boarding and deplaning, and an easy POG service. No meals and stuff to deal with. That’s a pretty sweet job.
I agree! KOA is a LOUSY airport, especially if you have the misfortune of flying long haul out of the place. The problem is further amplified by airlines with poor reliability, so it’s best to simply connect through another airport if at all possible. The HA FAs are great on the inter-island flights, though unfortunately the ground staff is atrocious. I’ve actually heard, though, that the FAs prefer the long haul flights. They say they’re easier than the inter-island flights with the intense schedule and little time for rest.
So if I’m going to the Big Island from the mainland, you’re saying I shouldn’t fly directly in or out of KOA? I’d be flying on AS (Hi, yep, it’s me), which has a pretty good reliable rating.
Aloha!
Aloha PTPNTP! I’d say if you’re going to the Big Island from the mainland, you don’t have a choice but to fly into and out of KOA; well, for direct flights anyway. You could fly to OGG or HNL and fly in/out of ITO, but if you’re staying on the Kona side of the island, that wouldn’t make much sense either. Just be prepared for the experience at KOA. If you didn’t already get sunburned on your trip, you could when you’re departing! Luckily AS has smaller aircraft so boarding shouldn’t be too bad ?
The last few times I have flown inter-island HA have been horrible. LIH-HNL , OGG-HNL – the planes are old, dirty and cramped. It’s just misery. Reminds me of domestic Egypt Air. Thank goodness the flights are so short. I have been opting to pay more for longer direct flights to LIH or OGG to avoid the HA flights.
When was the last time you flew HA inter-island Coffee84? They recently refurbished the interiors of their Boeing 717s a year or two ago, replacing the old cloth seats with sleek leather wrapped slimline seats. Not the most comfortable, but on such short flights it hardly matters. It does look a lot nicer now, though. I understand they’re going to begin refitting their long haul fleet in a year or two as well. At any rate, direct flights are always better!
Thanks for the reply. My last one was in Dec 2015. Glad to hear they are improving –
Hmmm, the cabin refurbishments should have been completed by then. As nice as it looks, though, the cabin does have a tendency to get dirtier and dirtier throughout the day. Due to the tight turnaround times there’s little to no cleaning between flights.