Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines are about to add more Dreamliners to their future fleet, but much—perhaps not all—of the expansion will happen far from Honolulu. According to an internal source and now multiple aviation reports, Alaska Airlines has just exercised five additional options for Boeing 787-9 aircraft. That brings the combined Alaska–Hawaiian Dreamliner total to 17 aircraft, marking another step in the changing identity of widebody travel tied in some ways to the islands.
While Hawaiian and Alaska have confirmed no changes publicly, the internal memo cited by a Beat of Hawaii reader and reiterated elsewhere states that a new 787 base is being established in Seattle, which makes sense and has been expected.
What was not previously known, however, is that Honolulu’s current Dreamliner base will remain in place. That base in HNL is being described as capable of supporting five Dreamliners—a clear cap as Alaska takes a far bigger role in managing long-haul widebody strategy. Exactly which routes will be served from each base remains to be seen.
Why this matters to Hawaii travelers.
Dreamliners were once positioned to be the crown jewel of Hawaiian Airlines. With longer range and upgraded passenger comfort, they were envisioned as a way to reconnect Hawaii with distant markets like New York, Tokyo, Sydney, and beyond, without sacrificing the airline’s signature onboard experience.
That vision may still, to some degree, be technically intact even under Hawaiian’s new ownership. But the geographic priorities are definitely shifting. With Seattle now poised to operate Dreamliner flights as well, it appears Alaska is building toward a significant international hub strategy that could use the Hawaiian fleet to reach deep into Asia and Europe.
Honolulu still matters, even for the Dreamliners, but it is no longer the exclusive—or possibly even primary—center of gravity.
What this means for Hawaii-bound passengers is less clear. There could still be select Dreamliner routes to and from Hawaii, but growth will be more focused on Seattle-originating flights. That comes on the heels of other signs that the islands may not benefit from the full promise of the 787 program.
As we’ve reported many times, Hawaiian’s widebody backbone for island flights continues to be the Airbus A330 fleet, which, together with its A321neo narrow-body fleet, operates the airline’s trans-Pacific flights from Honolulu and the neighbor islands. For now, that fleet—not the Dreamliner—is doing the heavy lifting for Hawaii.
A Honolulu base with limits.
The internal memo obtained from a Beat of Hawaii reader and then confirmed by others outlined the scope of the changes, stating that Hawaiian would maintain its more limited than originally planned HNL Dreamliner base. That base is already operational, with 787s currently in use for key mainland and international routes.
What’s different now is the lack of mention of expansion in Honolulu. Instead, the memo highlights a new base in Seattle, which is likely to be Alaska-managed. That city, already the center of Alaska’s growing global ambitions, now appears to be the main launching point for future Dreamliner service.
This shift continues a pattern we’ve seen before. In previous coverage of Hawaiian’s Dreamliner being pulled from Hawaii plans and redirected to Rome, we documented how Alaska’s wider network opportunities took precedence.
From flagship to shared fleet.
Before Alaska purchased Hawaiian, the 787 was Hawaiian’s long-awaited wide-body upgrade. It was heading to replace older A330s on key routes and offered what many considered a potential new standard in comfort and onboard service. Even still, it lacked the premium economy that is in demand for widebody flights such as these.
But under Alaska’s oversight, the role of the 787 is being redefined. Rather than serving as a Hawaii-first product, the aircraft is becoming a shared fleet between the two airlines—with Seattle increasingly favored for expansion.
This could eventually lead to fleet standardization, product realignment, or even rebranding. None of that has been confirmed yet, but the trend is clear: the Dreamliner is no longer Hawaiian’s baby. It may, however, to some smaller degree, be allowed to continue to play a role in routes to and from Hawaii.
One possibility is that the fleet will diverge slightly in product depending on where each aircraft is based. Dreamliners originating in Honolulu may retain Hawaiian interiors and crew protocols, while those launched from Seattle could be transitioned to an Alaska service model and branding. That has been expected. If so, the passenger experience on what is technically the same aircraft could vary significantly based on departure city.
More 787s—but not necessarily for Hawaii.
Industry tracker Ishrion Aviation, often accurate on fleet movement and orders, corroborated the expansion in addition to other sources. On Bluesky, they noted that five additional 787-9s had been ordered, raising the joint fleet to 17 once deliveries are complete.
This is a strong signal that Alaska–Hawaiian plans to compete in longer-haul markets in a bigger way. But so far, nothing suggests that Hawaii is where many of these new jets will be focused.
Instead, they may be earmarked for more Seattle-to-Europe service, or routes to Asia, bypassing the islands entirely. We’ve already reported that Hawaiian’s role in the Dreamliner launch strategy was disrupted earlier this year.
What Hawaii travelers should expect next.
The creation of a new base in Seattle continues to introduce new questions about how these jets will be branded, staffed, maintained, and routed.
In the meantime, the Dreamliners based in Honolulu are expected to continue operating some long-haul flights, although which ones isn’t by any means clear. We were informed by Hawaiian/Alaska executives in June that they are still adjusting planned Dreamliner flights and routes. But any hope of large-scale expansion of Dreamliner service from Hawaii now looks limited under the five-aircraft cap.
This development ties closely to the broader transformation underway in the Hawaii air travel ecosystem. The shift in Dreamliner deployment away from Hawaii toward Seattle signals more consolidation, fewer widebodies in and out of Honolulu, and a greater emphasis on Alaska’s mainland footprint.
Hawaii’s identity in the air is shifting again.
For many repeat visitors, and for many years, Hawaiian Airlines was long associated with a unique inflight experience: the music, the language, the food, and the tone. It was one of the few remaining U.S. airlines to offer a sense of destination onboard.
The Dreamliner was supposed to elevate that experience even further. Instead, what’s unfolding now is a slow handoff of that promise to another city, and potentially another airline’s culture. We should know more in that regard soon enough.
Seattle may well become the new face of premium long-haul air travel tied to the Hawaiian brand. For passengers flying to Hawaii, that might mean more mixed experiences ahead, depending on where you board and which aircraft you happen to get.
As always, we’ll keep tracking what this means for travelers who care deeply about the Hawaii experience from the moment they step onboard. Let us know what you think. Is a Seattle Dreamliner still a Hawaiian flight in spirit? Or is something important being left behind at HNL?
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I haven’t seen any commentary for awhile regarding Southwest’s West Coast service future. Since LAX is still in a state of much flux continuing for another couple of years, LGB, ONT, and SNA make excellent alternatives. Parking is cheaper and closer and the terminals are much smaller, and since Hawaii’s meal service has gone downhill so much, it’s hardly worth paying for. And let’s not talk about those so-called first class seats on the single-aisle planes on Hawaiian and United and Delta. Bring a sandwich and get over it.
Beam us up, Scotty!
Alaska has made it clear the Honolulu market is not their focus. From a pure business sense their move makes total sense Honolulu is a leisure market with practically no business travel, whereas Seattle has tons of business travel, and whether we like it or not it’s business travelers in first class who pay the bills for the rest of us to fly.
When it comes to passenger comfort in “economy”. I’ll take a wide body “Airbus” versus a wide body “Boeing” any day.
I hope AS leaves the A330 based in Hawaii.
My rule of thumb for acceptable flying is under 2 hours for a regional jet (economy is fine), under 4 hours for a narrow body (extra comfort or better), under 6 hours for a small wide body (2-2-2 lie-flat business or better in a Boeing 767 or Airbus 330) or 1-1 lie-flat business class on a narrow body, and lie-flat business in a full wide body for any flight longer than 6 hours. East coast to Hawaii flights needs a full wide body like the Dreamliner for acceptable comfort. West Coast flights to Hawaii are fine in an A330, but if Hawaiian (now Alaska) wants to go to a narrow body-heavy fleet for its West Coast flight then it needs to reconfigure its business class seats (it calls them first class but they are not a true international first class). Recliner seats on an A321 or 737 don’t cut it for a 6 hour flight. 1-1 lie-flat seats like JetBlue Mint are needed.
I feel that to some extent, the very long range of the 787 would be wasted on existing HNL A330 services. To me, it makes more sense to use these planes on much longer haul routes, like SEA to SYD, AKL, and BKK, for instance. None of those routes currently exist and I think each of them could do very well.
Ultimately, where the 787s are used will be a business decision. At present, I don’t see a huge market for nonstop service between HNL and Europe. However, it will still be beneficial to Hawaii if AS/HA flies European nonstops from SEA as those flights will open more one stop itineraries from Europe to HI. Eventually, if there is enough connecting traffic, that could pave the way for European nonstops from HNL.
I understand the concern about the newest and most modern widebodies being used for other routes, but from many passengers’ perspectives, the A330 is a far more comfortable cabin in economy with its 2-4-2 layout, especially for couples, The 787’s 3-4-3 layout has narrower seats and makes it impossible for couples to sit by themselves. The A330s are not old by airline standards and will refitted with new interiors.
This is unsurprising. Until a common operating certificate is obtained, these airplanes have to be operated by Hawaiian crew. Aligning the seniority between Alaska and Hawaiian pilots is another obstacle to getting Seattle-based pilots to operate these flights. Today, of an Alaskan pilot wants to fly the 787, they need to join Hawaiian and go to the end of the seniority list, making it unlikely that they will want to make that move. Obviously, Alaskan has found enough Hawaii based crew to move to a Seattle base to enable this to happen. I’m sure there are some Alaskan crew who would like the larger pay to operate the 787, but until the unions agree on how to merge the seniority list, it’s not happening. While this doesn’t matter to passengers, out very much does matter to Alaskan and Hawaiian pilots, and likely the flight attendants and mechanics.
It’s Alaska not Alaskan
It seems there will continue to be a substantial A330 presence as well as Dreamliners in HNL for possible new Hawaii routes as well as operating on some established ones…Japan, SYD, NYC/BOS etc.
Seems like a good thing, prior to the merger the plan was to replace the A330’s with Dreamliners, I think there is a lot of life in them for HA leading the industry in wide body seats to Hawaii. This merger was all about change, seems to me the positives are winning. SEA has never had so many wide body seats to Hawaii and with the addition of so many options to connect on HA/AS has created an amazing array of one stop destinations for the residents of Hawaii never before realized.
IMO super rich people have their own pilots and personal jets. If Hawaii is to eliminate the middle class type of visitor then who gives a darn. If visitor arrivals decrease because of the STR issue and extreme hotel prices who really knows what the airlines will do?
IMO Hawaiians just want luxury and first class service when traveling from island to island at someone else’s expense.
AS/HA’s 330s are still relatively young. If AS/HA can retrofit them with expanded F and PE, they will be just as good as the 789s. There is no sign (as of now) that AS will move them to SEA. The 789s are a shiny new object, but they are also the reason that AS saved HA from bankruptcy. Yes, it’s a bummer that there will be limited service on the 789s out of HNL, but its a reasonable tradeoff from the AS side. I really don’t see that its a big deal (or unexpected) that the majority of 789s will be based in SEA.
“an Alaska service model and branding. ….”
I would not be surprised to see the new 787s have Alaska branding instead of Hawaiian… going forward it would seem Hawaiian’s brand footprint will only get smaller in the years ahead or disappear just like Virgin America.
It might get smaller but I don’t think it will disappear. HA is a different situation from Virgin America. In the case of HA, promises were made to the state of Hawaii and referenced by government agencies as conditions for approval. I see no upside to AS in breaking that agreement.
A long time Alaska patron I’ve experienced recent continuing customer service degradation; rosy promises to facilitate the merger will sadly but surely tread the same path. Dollars rule decisions. Hawaiian authorities should mandate
employment of dreamliners/ destination experience or witness continuing service decline.
It would make sense that AS/HA would have a 787 base in HNL if the plan to continue to operate HNL-SYD/NRT/ICN. As there is infrastructure in place there, perhaps AS/HA will replace the A330’s on that route sooner rather than later.
In any case, it’s hard to imagine where AS would have room to operate 19 wide-bodies, to say nothing of hangers for maintenance.
I’m sure part of it has to do with the fate of HA’s A330’s-how close they are to D checks, are they leased? and so on.
Everyone always forgets that HA’s operation of A330 freighters for Amazon has a lot to do with the ones they operate for themselves. The Amazon planes make it possible to spread the administrative costs of what would otherwise be a fairly small widebody fleet over more units.
It’s a shame that Hawaiian ordered the Dreamliners with 3-3-3 across seating instead of the preferable 2-4-2 (A-330s) across seating in coach. It allows them to seat one more passenger in each row, but results in narrower seats and aisles. As a result, I prefer the A-330s when traveling with one companion since we don’t have to sit with someone we don’t know, or in a center seat.