How airlines that fly to Hawaii perform is always something of importance to us personally and to our readers. Two publications, personal finance website Wallethub, and the Wall Street Journal, recently announced their annual rankings of airlines. Results are based on a wide range of criteria including reliability, comfort, fewest complaints, safety, and baggage handling.
Wallethub included all airlines that fly to Hawaii, whereas the WSJ didn’t include regional carrier Hawaiian Airlines.
The rankings below include our review of both rankings together with our own take.
#1: Hawaiian Airlines.
Wallethub: Hawaiian ranked near the top in reliability and safety, and just behind Delta overall. They scored lower in comfort, canceled flights, and the number of consumer complaints. Also, they noted that Hawaiian doesn’t offer now industry standard Wi-Fi.
WSJ: Hawaiian wasn’t included in their study.
BOH: Hawaii is the standard-bearer for Hawaii flights for a variety of reasons. They also offer top notch reliability, which is very important, especially when it comes to interisland service that we consider in the same way others might, trains, or buses. More comfort is available, for a price, in terms of premium economy. We concur that the lack of Wi-Fi in 2022 is annoying.
#2: Delta Airlines.
Wallethub: “Delta Air Lines has the lowest rate of cancelations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings.”
WSJ: #1 in on-time, cancelations, delays, bumping and complaints. Mishandled baggage was not so good.
BOH: Our take is slightly different since we are focused exclusively on Hawaii flights. Delta is far less Hawaii-centric than Southwest, Alaska, or Hawaiian. We question whether they would still rank first when just considering their Hawaii flights. Our personal experiences with Delta Hawaii flights have been mixed, but have included delayed connections, canceled flights, and lost luggage.
#3: Alaska Airlines.
Wallethub: #2 overall in WH study. Also “The safest airline.” Just behind Delta for reliability and comfort. In the category “Most affordable airline,” Alaska scored higher than any other company flying to Hawaii.
WSJ: Right behind Delta on overall ranking as well as on-time arrival, and delays. Not as good on mishandled baggage.
BOH: Alaska entered the Hawaii market about 15 years ago. They’ve done a very good job on Hawaii flights overall and are another standard-bearer. We’ve used them countless times to and from the mainland, and while we’ve had some delayed baggage and weather delays, our problems with them have been rare.
#4: United Airlines.
Wallethub: United has come way up in their rankings over the past six years. They continue to lag behind the above 3 across the board, however, based on Wallethub’s measures.
WSJ: UA ranks behind Alaska and Southwest of the airlines that fly to Hawaii. Mishandled baggage and customer complaints were high.
BOH: There’s no denying United’s popularity in Hawaii flights. Their website says that they “offer the most nonstop flights from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii.” It has been a long-time focus for United, where it offers a huge airlift, both nonstop and connecting to their U.S. and global hubs.
#5 Tie: American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
Wallethub: Southwest ranked at the bottom in its “Most satisfactory airline” category. Low rankings also included safety concerns, canceled flights, and delays, among other issues. American ranked at or near the bottom as well, in several important categories, including reliability.
WSJ: Southwest was ranked 3rd overall in the ranking while American was 6th. Southwest ranked poor on on-time performance, canceled flights, extreme delays, and involuntary bumping. American didn’t rank well based on long delays, midhandled baggage, and involuntary bumping.
BOH: American is somewhat of a niche player in the Hawaii market, including nonstop island flights from its multiple hubs. Southwest is unique among the Hawaii airlines, which have moved into line with Hawaiian, to largely dominate Hawaii flights, especially from the all-important west coast. Also, Southwest now has a large role in the Hawaii interisland flight market. They do that, however, very differently than Hawaiian. Interisland flights on SW are done without a dedicated fleet, and instead use the same trans-Pacific aircraft interisland, when the planes are on the way to and from the mainland. That’s presented issues regarding on-time performance, although the company has worked hard to avoid those problems.
You’ve heard from Wallethub, the Wall Street Journal, and from us. We’d greatly appreciate your thoughts on ranking the airlines that fly to Hawaii.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
This list is very true. The overall rankings in the opinion of mines or the United States Department of Transportation Website. These U.S Airlines on how they rank in on-time performance, safety Index, staff service, and experience. On behalf of 5 US Carriers, here’s how I ranked them.
#1: Delta Airlines [USA]
Delta Air Lines was named the top U.S Airline for the fourth year in a row, by Wall Street Journal in its annual airline scorecard rankings released by Wednesday Afternoon.
They took the number one spot for the best overall ranking 2022 – 2023.
PRO: Staff Service, Cabin Features,
Cancelation Rate
CON: Affordability
#2: Hawaiian Airlines [USA]
#3: Alaska Airlines [USA]
#4: Envoy Air [USA]
#5: United Airlines…
Our favorite is American Air. It leaves every morning, about 10:30 AM, non-stop to Kauai. Returns, about 10:30 PM, non-stop to Phoenix. Never had a problem.
Hawaiian Air nicer plane, but changing planes in Honolulu to Kauai..
Hawaiian changed planes a night before leaving and lost our seats that we paid extra. Refund took sometime..
We do Kauai again in 15 days for 3 weeks….
So glad to see Alaska Airlines ranked #1 on safety. We fly Alaska everywhere we go and this will be my daughter’s first flight to Hawaii. She is petrified to fly over an ocean but after hearing they are #1 in safety she feels somewhat better. Thank you for your information, Pam
Hi Pam.
Thanks for the feedback and we hope you all have a great time in Hawaii.
Aloha.
Good analysis. safe to say some SWA people are going to pipe in and promote their product, however, SWA has used their “SWA effect” of adding many flights to break into a market and has shown little regard for the impact on the state. Have to wonder if the renewed crackdown on illegal vacation rentals will undermine them. It seems the same travelers that book their SWA flights go hand in hand with the people booking airbnb’s. Hawaii cannot sustain being treated like Las Vegas or Orlando were SWA pumps in as many budget tourists as they can.
I will always fly a wide body (Hawaiian)! Five years ago I chose Alaska for my yearly trip. Terrifying!! First we were postponed one hour, then pilot told us we were flying into Portland from Seattle (200 miles away) to add fuel. We then bounced our way across the pacific, arriving almost 7.5 hours after leaving Seattle! It was almost midnight! But it was the sheer terror I felt during the endless storm that was worst!
And yes, one of my Hawn flights was delayed 12 hours due to a missing part they said, had to be brought in from Honolulu. But the flight was amazingly smooth and pleasant.
You’ve got to be kidding me that you place Southwest Airlines in last place? New aircraft, free bags, and some of the kindest & warmest cabin crews in the business (and no, I don’t work for Southwest). I certainly appreciate your point of view, however the value proposition that Southwest offers on transpacific and interisland flights is simply hard to beat. Aloha!
I booked my family of 6 on Southwest from Chicago(MDW) to HNL this June. When the smoke cleared it was still $4000 cheaper than Both AA and DL ,$3200 than UA which offers a nonstop from ORD and $2300 cheaper than AlaskaAir.
Going is a one stop 3hr connection in LAX. Returning a One stop same plane Thru flight to MDW via OAK.
When you add in the checked luggage and other fees everyone else changes or require you to bump up to next fare from seat assignments. Southwest with its free baggage and liberal/flexible family boarding policies it’s really not a problem getting seats together.
Our experiences with Alaska and Hawaiian would reverse your rating. Two weeks ago we arrived Honolulu 10 minutes early but waited on the tarmac 28 minutes for an open gate. Once disembarked, we waited 1 hour and 14 minutes for bags. Horrid!! We had family waiting for us. On return to Seattle we arrived on time but again waited 25 minutes for an open gate on the southern satellite. Bags were more prompt. So, blame the airport for slow bags. Only problem with that is Hawaiian has their own terminal in Honolulu. We shall be staying with Alaska from now on.
We’ve flown all the airlines listed I can honestly say we don’t prefer one over another. Since we do live on the west coast its all about price and direct flights. Next month we’re flying SW around trip direct to Kona a flight they will no longer offer from Sacramento. So because of direct flights coming October we’re visiting Oahu first time in 30 plus years. Flying SW over Hawaiian back.
The best leg room for non “extra price” seats like MCE is Southwest. Jammed in coach seats with little pitch all the way to Hawaii wasn’t in their formula…neither were the two free checked bags and no charge for carry ons.
HA is a good airline but their fares are too high…whether booking with miles or dollars it is rare for us to find a flight with HA being competitive.
You forgot to mention Hawaiian Airlines serves free meals and complimentary rum punch to all flyers. They are the best.
Article has to be a bit biased since Beat of Hawaii has to support its hometown airline – Hawaiian. Taking advantage of recent low rankings on Southwest from WSJ is a bid disingenuous. SWA’s performance for the Hawaiian Islands are actually better than HA (look up recent articles on 717 training and flight cancellations). Could it be that this article was written to damage Southwest’s reputation? One has to look at the intent of this article. Article also doesn’t mention SWA now provides 35-40 percent of the inter-island available capacity (and growing). And bags fly free!
Hawaiian is in fact the hometown airline and does offer the best service. Throwing stones at HA is like people that come to Hawaii and complain about “the locals”. Hawaiian had an issue with their 717 sim and as a result had A321’s available to provide backup. Ludicrous to say SWA offers better service to Hawaii than Hawaiian. Particularly so with all the problems SWA has had with trying to cover inter inter island with their transpac fleet and their industry leading flight changes and cancellations. They are the airline equivalent of people that move to Hawaii and start speaking pidgin.
Aloha and thanks for the post. Interesting read. We’re all about Hawaiian. We love that the Hawaiian experience begins when you board the plane and continues until you touch down. If you’re lucky enough to fly first class, that’s exactly what it is. First class. We’ve also flown extra comfort and that experience suffers little from First class, IMHO. (That See’s Candy box is worth the purchase)
We’ve flown Alaska just once. We went first class and found it to be a total waste of $$$. Not that the staff experience is lacking because it wasn’t. We just didn’t think that the cost was aligned very well with the benefits of first class.
Safe travels!!!!
Hi Michael.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the airlines. Everyone’s take is different, which makes it more interesting.
Aloha.
We fly Alaskan as they are one of the few that do a direct flight from San Diego to Lihue. We do have the AA credit card, so free bag and a companion pass make it the most competitive cost.
Hawaiian is our second choice but we don’t want to do a layover unless there is no other choice. We will give Hawaiian the ambiance award though, from boarding to landing you feel a Hawaiian vibe.
Southwest makes me nervous – they have cancelled too many flights this year, and many of the planes seem worn.
Southwest’s planes are junk and not well maintained
Great analysis. Hawaiian is my favorite airlines from the Bay Area to Hawaii. Excellent and reliable service. Friendly crews. I wish they’d add more flights that depart later in the AM from the Bay Area. The 7am-9am departures are tough for me. Alaska is also top notch though you don’t get the sense of being in the islands. Recently flew UA SFO to HNL because it had a late PM departure. After all of the reports of bad service, I was pleasantly surprised but it still didn’t have the same level of service on Hawaiian or Alaska.
Hi David.
Thanks. We are enjoying all the different perspectives. Yes Hawaiian is very different in the sense that almost all of the crew are from here.
Aloha.
As always, thank you for your information. For us, flying from the southeast, Delta has been best, especially the ATL to HNL direct flight and then Hawaiian to LIH.
Hi Cal.
Thanks for the feedback on your airline choices.
Aloha.
Aloha,
JulieWe live on Maui and fly to Oregon to see family regularly. Hawaiian is our favorite with Alaska a close second.
Not once has there been an issue coming and going and they unlike SW fly direct from Portland to Maui.
We have flown SW but it’s a long layover in California and the times we’ve flown with them they kept changing the layover times. Also they don’t have charging ports for electronic devices, but 2 bags fly free 😉. Even at lower ticket costs SW doesn’t get our business.
For our needs Hawaiian and Alaska are the best.
Julie
Sent from my iPad
Southwest has been the best for me in terms of value, on time flights, ease of changing reservations, and customer service.
Alaska Airlines is what I use to get to Maui…usually 2 or 3 times a year. They are always the cheapest, most on time and pleasant on board. They fly direct to Kahului from Portland….gotta love that.
My party of 4 had tickets this week. We flew Spokane to Seattle on Alaska 630 a.m. flight with no issues. Upon landing, we checked board for gate info. The flight from Seattle to Maui on Hawaiian Air was delayed over 12 hours!!! One or 2 hours is acceptable. But 12 ?!?!?! If we hadn’t scrambled, we would’ve been stuck. As it turned out, Alaska Air got us on a flight with a layover thru Los Angeles. Not a great start to a vacation delayed over 2 years! Not happy travelers!
I do understand why HA is first But seriously WN (SWA) should be 2nd! The fact that they don’t charge you for bags is huge!
Why would southworst be seco d? They are a horrible airline and offer a very lackluster product on poorly maintained aircraft
Hawaiian airlines is my choice from Sacramento or Oakland. I like the non stop flight from Oakland to Kauai. I always fly home to Sacramento where I live. The wide body that flies to and from Sacramento to Honolulu is my favorite plane. I fly extra comfort on the wide body and have more privacy with the two seats only on either the left or right side of the plane. I fly at least 4 or 5 times per year. They need to add Wi-Fi.
Although not the most convenient from Seattle to Kauai, I still choose to fly Hawaiian. There is something about being in the Aloha ambience for the 5+ hours going to and from Kauai that the other carriers cannot match. That ambience is always most appreciated when heading back home each fall from Kauai. Makes it just a bit easier to leave “my island” for another year.
We have flown to Hawaii dozens of times on various airlines. Hawaiian remains our go-to choice for getting there from the East coast!
Personally I feel it’s a good thing to not be plugged in for a few hours. Not a bad thing HA doesn’t have WiFi at all.
Read, watch a movie or just recline and take a nap
Hawaiian Airlines baggage handling and policy is horrible. We learned an expensive lesson the hard way.
My daughter and I flew HA from Kahalui to Sacramento with a dog & newborn. The flight was fine and we got our luggage. We had no idea where the dog was coming to and no one was in baggage claim to help us. She finally came and we left.
Two weeks later my daughter discovered her $400 car seat was cracked. We didn’t see it initially because the crack was under the cover. I contacted HA and got their scripted responses with no success in making a claim. I filed a complaint with DOT and they still gave their scripted response.
United on the other hand, handled her baby equipment (on a later flight) with care and respect.
I love Hawaiian airline! It has always been # 1 to me.
Our only trouble with Southwest has been from the 9th Hawaiian island, Las Vegas. Good for trolling for travel vouchers, however.
Alaska top 3! Great airline and great service. Not to mention safer than the cheap, cattle car airline that is crapwest
Hawaiian is great fun if money is not a consideration. There is definitely nothing free about the “free meal and rum”.
Unfortunately, for all of us the airlines based in the US compare very poorly to many foreign carriers.