Problems are vast and unending at Hawaii airports after 15 years of “improvement.” Is the lack of an independent airport authority at fault?”
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60 thoughts on “After $2.3B, Hawaii Airports Still Land At Bottom In U.S. Rankings”
Problems are vast and unending at Hawaii airports after 15 years of “improvement.” Is the lack of an independent airport authority at fault?”
I’m a world traveler and I can safely say that Hawaiian airports are, hands down, the worst in the world. Close runner up – Houston IAH. Do I really have to sit outside in the heat and humidity? Seriously! Outdoor terminals. This ain’t Haiti folks! Are the restrooms ever going to open? Is the restaurant at Kona international a joke? Never seen it open. Tonight, the section that sells beer and wine is open but the entire place has no ice. You are the tourist capitol of the USA. Get a grip on your third world airports. We’ve decided to vacation elsewhere next year. We’re too old for this baloney.
Like all govt involvement,$$$ is thrown and wasted. Those few in the know get Rich off sucking $$$ away from actual work. It’s sad but Hawaiis main source of revenue are people coming and going and yet the airports suck
I love Hilo’s airport ! Open air the smell of flowers! It’s been 37 years since I been too Hilo and I love the fact it has not changed in all those years. 😎.
The “new” Hilo airport was built in the 60s and many of the jets stopped in Hilo on their way to/from the mainland. Unfortunately, the service the state expected never came to fruition. I’ve stopped several times in Hilo going to college. I will always love the town of Hilo and it’s people.
Why wife and I have a home on the Big Island and visit 2 or 3 times a year. The number of flight choices available from NJ ( our primary residence) have greatly diminished over the last 2 years and air prices have more than doubled . Most flights now to Kona require 2 stops making it a long and difficult trip. I am not an airline expert but something is broken. Visitors to Hawaii will go elsewhere.
I like Hilo airport. It’s got the most comfortable seating, very simply made and irreplaceable! I feel a wonderful old-time Hawaii vibe whenever I arrive or depart. It was better pre-covid with lei shops and more food choices, but the new restrooms are much appreciated. To this day, it is not crowded. Perhaps I should keep this to myself.
More than a cornucopia of food choices and shopping, I want an airport to work well. HNL and OGG, the two I’m most familiar with, were designed for fewer people than they see now, which means they don’t work as designed. The new terminal at HNL should help, even if it leaves people cold and doesn’t have a Wolfgang Puck’s and California Pizza Kitchen. My home airport, OGG, spent money on a cute train that goes 100m rather than improving the capacity at the security checkpoints, which was a mistake everyone has suffered for. Maybe they aren’t top notch (or middle notch) but if you base your travel decisions and overall experience on the amenities at the airport, you are missing the point of travel.
You surely have that correct Frank! When you have 500 kids running loose in an airport you realize very quickly that OGG was never designed for that kind of disaster. Thanksgiving week has a good number of young people and their children on Maui at this time. They seem to be mostly at the beach.
Aloha
The link in your article points to the 2021 survey, not the 2022 survey which is available.
Hi Mitchell.
Thanks for pointing that out. We’ve corrected it.
Aloha.
There were questions about why do you need food at the airport. Now, one needs to arrive a couple hours before “scheduled” departure. With rental car check-in and such you leave the accommodation at least 3 hours ahead of departure. Coming back to the mainland you have another 5-6 hours or more rather foodless. I know some airlines were encountering difficulty with collecting and disposing of the waste from brought-with food. Our practice in Kona is to get sandwiches and such the night before and carry-on. I remember, pre 9/11, when we would have business meetings at airports (some folks had to fly in) wit nice meeting rooms and great food options.
Hal
It’s not uncommon to have long layovers on connecting flights at some airports, then it’s nice to have a decent restaurant around.
Aloha
Absolutely, Or a long delay in just boarding.
A problem that we have encountered several times with TSA Employees in just a few smaller airports has been the reason why we haven’t been bringing sandwiches from home for our flights, we were forced to toss them in to the garbage. Everyone was treated the same. If not for the Restaurants inside the airport we would not have had any substantial food for the flights. Isolated incidents like this change a person’s outlook on things. If, as in Hawaii, an airport doesn’t have Restaurants with good food and several choices of different fare they are doing a Disservice to Everyone without caring about anyone. Hawaii ranks higher than they should in my honest assessment of the situations!
Absolutely agree Ernie. We are gluten free and alway take sandwiches and snacks on flights, because Hawaiian doesn’t have a thing we can eat. We’ve been lucky with TSA—so far, but Kona is the exception. We often purchase snacks for the plane at the airport, and it would be great to have a decent restaurant in the terminal.
We flew into Maui OGG yesterday. The airport was very busy. For some reason there was an extraordinary number of kids around. Our flight in had 47 kids on board making for a bit of bedlam. The kids at the airport were just everywhere pushing their way up front to the baggage carousel. I’ve never seen that many children at one time. Our car rental agent thought that it was in some way connected to the Thanksgiving week coming up and that the kids had been pulled out of school early. There is nothing special about the Maui airport.
Well, it is on Maui, so that’s kind of special, right?
Work at a resort and you are correct. All of a sudden it is like summer vacation around here with the kids.
Maui is special. But that airport is only good for a buckboard and a horse.
Sounds like someone should be yelling “Rawhide!” Okay, it’s out of my system now, got nothing else.
We left out of new HNL terminal on a 10pm flight, in June 2022, the only food option was a store that sold snacks, No Restaurants open, nothing to eat. Hawaiian Airlines does not serve food after 8pm flights, new terminal was a disgrace. We were starving when we arrived in LA! They have flights from all different countries & time zones coming in & leaving, so no excuse for this!
I flew out on American the next month (different terminal) & plenty restaurants open & that was a 10pm flight also!
I have avoided HAL like they carry the plague, knowing that they are screwing the passengers yet again by not serving food because it’s after 8 pm is a really dumb idea. By purchasing tickets on HAL people are Rewarding Bad Ideas and Sub Par Service. Understanding that HAL has a 1st Class section some people wouldn’t travel any other way, why travel HAL for the other seats and be abused Sardines that paid too much? I don’t understand that at all, loyalty aside there’s no loyal returned.
The only way this will get fixed is the end of one party rule in this state.
DOT is nothing but a cesspool of bribery, payoffs and graft.
Of all the airports I was in for my recent trip to Hawaii San Diego was definitely the worst.
I guessing you flew Southwest and were in Terminal 1? That terminal is 6 months into a 2 year, multibillion dollar renovation remodel. And yes, it was over due and needed as that was the original SAN terminal and has been overcrowded and horrible for decades. Come back in a few years or fly into Terminal 2 and you will find a very different expirience.
And it’s low ranking surprise anyone?
And as the Unted CEO said “the dismal state of HNL airport negatively impacts travel to the Hawaiian Islands.”
Maybe that’s the whole idea… keep people from coming.
The Hawaii DOT does not manage anything effectively. From a former resident.
Really, I have been in airports for 50 years in the United States, Iceland, Luxembourg, Paris, London, Toulouse, Milan, Rome, Cairo, Barcelona, etc.,etc. I have never encountered more charming,transcendant, welcoming airports than Lihue, Hilo, and Honolulu. Wake up! You are a precious jewel.
Amen
I live in Maui and Love coming home to our airport. I actually miss the old open aired banyon tree airport. (Yes I’m getting old).
If you are in paradise and your first concern is airport food, etc then you are already set to be one of those tourists that complain that you didn’t feel welcome by the locals. You are bringing these vibes on yourselves people. Relax and be grateful you are here.
As I have learned from experience and the experiences of others that Jewels are really undigestable pieces of non dietary rocks that Don’t take the place of Food. Oftentimes places that are Comparable to Jewels often are called that to replace the words “run down.” I would prefer Functionality, Modern, even possibly Eclectic with Palatable Food offerings from Several Sanitary Sources than the “Jewel” without the resources! Hawaii Airports need to get out of the “Sub Par” Basement, the basement 2 stories under the Third World Enviable Airports!
Kona is on my “worst” list. The recent “improvements” didn’t make it more comfortable or user friendly. Staff in shops are unfriendly, and TSA is awful, food choices are few and low quality. I dread going through there each fall! I like the new HNL terminal but it needs more food choices. Overall not surprised by the rankings. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Hi Lee.
Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.
Aloha.
In Hawaii, as in certain other areas of the world that suffer from Third World Governance and Poverty, the intended uses of money never improve anything because the money disappears. Providing money for Improving the Airports typically doesn’t buy much more than 2 cans of paint that was mixed wrong, the rest gets sucked down into a Black Hole never to be seen by taxpayers or airport maintenance again. As the Rich become Wealthy and the Wealthy become Wealthier the Airports become Dingier and decrepit “Jewels of Paradise” for all to Suffer the Experience of the Hawaiian Islands.