You board. You take off. Then, you land right back where you started. So you try again, and the same thing happens. That’s what played out today on Hawaiian Airlines Flight 1, when the airline’s oldest flagship Dreamliner returned to LAX twice in one day after failing to reach Honolulu.
Flight data and other sources indicate that Hawaiian Airlines Flight 1 first departed Los Angeles today at 8:41 AM Pacific Time. The Dreamliner climbed out normally and headed toward Honolulu before abruptly reversing course. It landed back at LAX at 11:43 AM after just about three hours in the air.
After spending about two and a half hours on the ground, the aircraft departed a second time at 1:15 PM. This second attempt was even shorter. After just 53 minutes airborne, it once again turned around and landed at LAX at 2:08 PM. The total distance flown on that leg was only 247 miles.
The aircraft involved was tail number N780HA, a 4-year-old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, configured with 34 business-class and 266 economy seats. It was delivered new to Hawaiian Airlines in 2021.
We don’t know if these diversions were for medical, mechanical or something system-related. Whatever happened was significant enough to abort two separate long-haul operations.
Why this matters for Hawaii flights.
The LAX to Honolulu route is central to Hawaiian’s Dreamliner strategy. It’s one of the airline’s last and most visible Dreamliner markets, used not just for passenger and cargo service but to showcase its new premium cabin and modernized fleet. This route is also the one that Beat of Hawaii editors are scheduled to fly on soon and review.
When a plane turns back once, it’s usually unremarkable. But when it returns twice in a single day, it becomes something else entirely—and worth noting. Hawaiian hasn’t said what happened, and not further confirmed details have been released as of 11pm on July 19. What we do know is that the airline’s newest variant of long-haul jet didn’t make it to Honolulu twice.
What travelers need to know now.
No official cause for the double diversions has been made public. Hawaiian has not yet issued a statement. The FAA has not posted a related incident in its database. But aircraft tracking logs and multiple sources confirm both flights used the same aircraft and flight number.
There is no evidence of any onboard emergency that we are aware of, following monitoring of various sources and feeds. Could this have been a persistent fault that wasn’t cleared between attempts or something else entirely? We await word and will update this as soon as we learn more.
Some have speculated about what this means for the aircraft’s operational status, but at this point, there’s no confirmed explanation. Hawaiian has not provided details, and anything beyond that would be guessing. The plane remains on the ground at LAX at this time. It is scheduled to operate the same route again tomorrow morning, this time as HA 4, departing LAX at 10:10 am.
What’s next for Hawaiian’s Dreamliner program.
This hiccup comes as Hawaiian begins expanding its Dreamliner service across the Pacific from Seattle to both Asia and, soon, Europe. The airline’s recent plans for a 2026 Rome launch and its Asia plans both rely on the reliability and performance of the 787-9. This incident won’t impact those plans, but it does remind travelers that even new aircraft can have growing pains no matter the airline. Hawaiian has a 95-year track record of excellent safety.
Passenger expectations are also higher on new jets. Comfort, reliability, and perceived safety all weigh more heavily on long-haul leisure routes, especially for milestone trips like honeymoons or once-in-a-lifetime vacations.
Saturday’s twin diversions are now part of the story that Hawaiian and Alaska will have to manage. If more issues arise, or if the cause isn’t disclosed, travelers may think twice before choosing the Dreamliner for Hawaii flights.
We’ll be watching closely. If you were onboard or are flying this route soon, let us know in the comments.
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We’re flying the new SEA to ICN route in late September. Fingers crossed that we don’t have any hiccups, but we’ve planned an overnight in Seoul before continuing to Malaysia, just in case.
Medical emergency first -Flight attendant fainted and the 2nd time hydraulics. Fixed quickly but pilots and flight attendants timed out and there weren’t back up pilots. There were back up flight attendants but no pilots.
No communication about what happened at first, long lines for vouchers. First said we were flying out at 6 and then 1130 and then It was delayed until 1. We didn’t take off until almost 2.
More information about the lack of communication, vouchers not working but just happy to finally be Home.
My grandson and his fiancé are planning a trip to Oahu in September. Should I be worried ?their reservations. Are made. I made the same trip last September with my family on Hawaiian dream liner and it was wonderful. I’m very concerned after reading this article.
First one was medical, crew member became ill and second a mechanical issue.
Just tried to book an LAX-HNL r/t for the Holidays and no B787 and no A330 all minibuses so it is good bye Hawaiian. Bit of a quandary as Delta’s fleet to HNL are so old the IFE instructions are in Latin.
Will be taking the HA4 from Honolulu to Los Angeles on 7/22/25. Hope they get this figured out before then!!
Wow… I flew on that same Dreamliner in May of 2024. At that time it had only been flying for a short time despite being built in 2021. So I’m wondering what’s going on with it now. Hopefully it’s being figured out as FlightAware is showing that the 787 is supposed to depart LAX tomorrow morning for HNL.
One might think it’d be good idea to at least release a {meaningless} statement to acknowledge what happened. Otherwise one can assume there really isn’t any concern for pax welfare….Maybe HA thought AS was going to do so and v.v. ! … lol