33 thoughts on “Hawaii-Based Airlines, Then and Now”
Beau M
I flew on Royal HawaiianAir Service several times from HNL to the Kaanapali air strip … in the middle of a sugarcane field, next to the Royal Lahaina Hotel. Hotel would send a golf cart to pick you up! Got to fly as co-pilot, several times. No transponders, had to keep sharp lookout for other traffic, esp. nearing HNL approach. If whales were spotted en route, would divert a few minutes to get a closer look & photos. Usually had to help load our own luggage. Really sorry that they are gone!!! Making a trip ORD-HNL in 3 weeks. A 787-10 UA flt., Polaris class. Miss the 747’s upper deck lounge. Wonder is “Menehune Juice” is on the post Covid menu, at UAL?
kiawe
We also flew GO! Once. Our flight home to OGG from HNL was third to last in the evening, canceled, next flight was full, last flight was 2 hours after that and had to carry everyone who didn’t make it out earlier. No compensation. ‘Nuff said.
I miss Aloha and Mahalo.
kiawe
One of our friends worked at Pacific Wings as ground crew out of Kahului for a while. I remember there was some question if he would receive his last paychecks, as that was when PW was having its kafuffle about the president. We tried to fly PW as much as possible because it was very inexpensive and one of only a few airlines that could fly into Molokai; one of our last flights the pilot asked if the passengers wanted to take a detour up one of the windward valleys, which was spectacular.
Chris S
Thanks for the memories guys. I too loved Aloha and remember when the planes were just white and orange before they changed the tail like the one you pictured.
I know it won’t happen but secretly hope somehow they come back.
1
Phillip
Great Article! I fondly recall arriving in Honolulu in 2001 for our anniversary and leaving my wife with the luggage while I went to the Aloha counter to get our Aloha Airlines “six pack” of tickets for further island hops to Kauai, The Big Island & Maui. Aloha always served those Papaya Juice Drink Cups with the pull off top on their interisland fligts too!
1
Kim B.
Yes! We loved Aloha and always used it for inter-island travel. Our daughters called those cups “plane juice”; I could use one right now!
Peter M
Mahalo for a great overview Local author Peter Forman wrote a book called “Wings of Paradise” c 2005 that tells the stories of most of the airlines that you mentioned. I was particularly fond of Island Air and multiple trips mostly to/from Kapalua. They treated their passengers well. I also recall my first visit to Kauai on a Mid Pacific Air YS-11. It was noisy and slow but very memorable. (Our bags came on the faster F-28). BTW – the short-lived 1990 airline was Discovery Airways.
1
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Peter.
Thanks for your input and about the book, which we have not seen.
Aloha.
1
JohnW
Aloha Guys! In the early 70’s Kuilima Air Service was started by a flight school owned by the legendary George Fraker to shuttle passengers from HNL to Kuilima (Turtle Bay) this morphed into Oahu and Kauai Airlines aka OK Air with Cessna 402″s. OK Airlines served Lihue and Princeville, merged into Air Hawaii and disappeared in 1983. Around this time Paradise Air and Reeves flew Cessna 402’s for a spell. Used to be about a half dozen fixed wing air tour companies back then too. Mostly Beech 18’s.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi John.
Thanks for that! We didn’t know about those airlines and neither did Google.
Aloha.
John V.
Intrigues by the list above, I did a quick Google search of several. Turns out that the correct name of one of the above is Makani Kai Air.
Mahalo for all you do to keep us lovers of Hawaii in the loop!
Beat of Hawaii
Hi John.
Thanks for catching that typo.
Aloha.
Kelly
You didn’t mention ATA. they were not around for long in the early 2000s.
Flew them once or twice. Nothing special.
Aloha gents.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Kelly.
Thanks. The reason is that this was only about airlines based in Hawaii.
Aloha.
JohnW
ATA was a very large worldwide charter airline based in Indianapolis from the 70’s to 2008.
Their Hawaii service was actually in partnership with SWA, the only airline SWA would code share with. Very bare bones and at one point actually sold a pass for something like $1200 dollars. This allowed for unlimited flights to Hawaii on ATA for 12 months.
1
C D
Late 70’s into early 80’s — those great flights on Royal Hawaiian between HNL and the Kaanapali landing strip! Flying so low — spectacular views of Molokai reefs, cliffs and valleys on the way to Maui.
Also 70’s and 80’s — we would walk up to Aloha Airlines at Kahului and they would just take our luggage and say “OK if you leave on the next flight?” !!
Easy travel back then.
3
Mick M
Thank you for confirming that I haven’t lost my mind! I visited Maui with my parents as a teenager in 1984, and recently returned with my partner. The long drive this year from the airport to Kaanapali – and the scenery along the way – seemed foreign to me, as I could sort of recall just a relatively short minibus ride from the hotel to and from where we landed way back then. Why did they stop using that airstrip I wonder?
Mick M
Bigger aircraft, of course. Scratch the part about me not losing my mind!
Bill P
Very interesting history of air service in paradise! I very much enjoyed. Not a pilot myself but father of Air Force and commercial flyer.
1
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Bill.
Thanks for that and your first comment.
Aloha.
David B.
This past November, we flew Mokulele from ITO-OGG-LNY. It truly was a “flightseeing” flight. According to the radar track, we flew at 1,000 feet along the east coast of Hawaii, climbing only after passing Hawi. The connecting flight flight from OGG-LNY was over the Iao Needle area, and I swear were weren’t more than 800 AGL when crossing. Amazing scenery.
Mahalo
2
Beat of Hawaii
Hi David.
Thanks for sharing that Mokulele experience.
Aloha.
David B.
I too, recall the coupon books, and being able to miss a Hawaiian flight, and just walk over to Aloha and catch the next flight in 20 minutes. Also remember taking a foam ice chest on four interisland flights, and having it survive just fine as checked baggage.
Mahalo
3
Timm T
Loved Aloha Airlines! When I was covering Hawaii, I was flying over every six weeks. Aloha ran a flight from Oakland to Honolulu which was way more convenient than having to get to SFO. Plus. they had a code share with United so I could get Mileage Plus credit with every flight. Wish they were still flying.
4
Randy R
There’s a lesson here, and Aloha was also our Inter-Island Choice, for your reasons in 5 Business Trips a year, Oahu-Maui. The questions on Hawaiian are real, as the local service is underwritten by the Long-Haul, the last two years, the pain to Tourism and kama’aina alike has been great, SW may be the best opportunity for the Inter-Island travel given their Hub & Spoke Model, and their Financial strength, competition is good. Hawaiian is the Gold Standard for travel to Hawaii.
3
David K
Thanks, again for an interesting article. Unfortunately, you forgot to include Air Molokai. I flew on it several times, often in the co-pilot seat foe weight distribution. Mahalo and aloha for now.
1
Beat of Hawaii
Hi David.
We added them – thanks for that. We don’t remember them, and neither does Google. Very little information other than a crash.
Aloha.
1
Stan F
Another airline, but didn’t have a lot of information attached to it, was Air Molokai, also known as Air Molokai-Tropic Airlines. Flew DC-3 cargo and passenger flights between Oahu and Molokai, connecting the island to both Oahu and Maui. Ran out of the south ramp at HNL.
1
Dick O
The thing I remember about Mid Pacific was they had this huge schedule of flights daily, but then on the day of the flight would cancel the flights that were not well booked. So, you could get a reservation for an early flight, but by the time they finished juggling the flight schedules, your flight might be 3-4 hours later. Connecting to a flight to the mainland was always a gamble.
Stan F
Another airline, more like an air taxi service but still influential was HATS – Hawaiian Air Tour Services – which ran DH Doves and Herons in their heyday. The owner, Hans Mueller, in the 1980s was scouting around to start an interisland airline to compete against Hawaiian and Aloha. the venture never got off the ground.
Stan F
An interesting story about Mid Pacific – Formed at Honolulu on August 31, 1979 by former Hawaiian Airlines executives John Higgins, Ed Nielsen, and Nolan Kramer as the airline operating subsidiary of Mid-Pacific Air Corporation, it entered the market on March 15, 1981 with a single Japanese-made NAMC YS-11A. Eventually getting two Fokker F-28 jets, the airline went through a series of ownership transfers. before ceasing operations in Hawaii in 1988. Their big thing was coupons.
Maleko
Mid-Pacific Airlines was great while they lasted. Loved the turboprops and friendly service. Also, they served fruit punch from McDonald’s on board! Was such a hoot to see the McDonald’s coolers being loaded aboard. Many of their pilots were from the military and sometimes you would get incredible views when they decided to bank sharply. Such fun!
2
Comments are closed.
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I flew on Royal HawaiianAir Service several times from HNL to the Kaanapali air strip … in the middle of a sugarcane field, next to the Royal Lahaina Hotel. Hotel would send a golf cart to pick you up! Got to fly as co-pilot, several times. No transponders, had to keep sharp lookout for other traffic, esp. nearing HNL approach. If whales were spotted en route, would divert a few minutes to get a closer look & photos. Usually had to help load our own luggage. Really sorry that they are gone!!! Making a trip ORD-HNL in 3 weeks. A 787-10 UA flt., Polaris class. Miss the 747’s upper deck lounge. Wonder is “Menehune Juice” is on the post Covid menu, at UAL?
We also flew GO! Once. Our flight home to OGG from HNL was third to last in the evening, canceled, next flight was full, last flight was 2 hours after that and had to carry everyone who didn’t make it out earlier. No compensation. ‘Nuff said.
I miss Aloha and Mahalo.
One of our friends worked at Pacific Wings as ground crew out of Kahului for a while. I remember there was some question if he would receive his last paychecks, as that was when PW was having its kafuffle about the president. We tried to fly PW as much as possible because it was very inexpensive and one of only a few airlines that could fly into Molokai; one of our last flights the pilot asked if the passengers wanted to take a detour up one of the windward valleys, which was spectacular.
Thanks for the memories guys. I too loved Aloha and remember when the planes were just white and orange before they changed the tail like the one you pictured.
I know it won’t happen but secretly hope somehow they come back.
Great Article! I fondly recall arriving in Honolulu in 2001 for our anniversary and leaving my wife with the luggage while I went to the Aloha counter to get our Aloha Airlines “six pack” of tickets for further island hops to Kauai, The Big Island & Maui. Aloha always served those Papaya Juice Drink Cups with the pull off top on their interisland fligts too!
Yes! We loved Aloha and always used it for inter-island travel. Our daughters called those cups “plane juice”; I could use one right now!
Mahalo for a great overview Local author Peter Forman wrote a book called “Wings of Paradise” c 2005 that tells the stories of most of the airlines that you mentioned. I was particularly fond of Island Air and multiple trips mostly to/from Kapalua. They treated their passengers well. I also recall my first visit to Kauai on a Mid Pacific Air YS-11. It was noisy and slow but very memorable. (Our bags came on the faster F-28). BTW – the short-lived 1990 airline was Discovery Airways.
Hi Peter.
Thanks for your input and about the book, which we have not seen.
Aloha.
Aloha Guys! In the early 70’s Kuilima Air Service was started by a flight school owned by the legendary George Fraker to shuttle passengers from HNL to Kuilima (Turtle Bay) this morphed into Oahu and Kauai Airlines aka OK Air with Cessna 402″s. OK Airlines served Lihue and Princeville, merged into Air Hawaii and disappeared in 1983. Around this time Paradise Air and Reeves flew Cessna 402’s for a spell. Used to be about a half dozen fixed wing air tour companies back then too. Mostly Beech 18’s.
Hi John.
Thanks for that! We didn’t know about those airlines and neither did Google.
Aloha.
Intrigues by the list above, I did a quick Google search of several. Turns out that the correct name of one of the above is Makani Kai Air.
Mahalo for all you do to keep us lovers of Hawaii in the loop!
Hi John.
Thanks for catching that typo.
Aloha.
You didn’t mention ATA. they were not around for long in the early 2000s.
Flew them once or twice. Nothing special.
Aloha gents.
Hi Kelly.
Thanks. The reason is that this was only about airlines based in Hawaii.
Aloha.
ATA was a very large worldwide charter airline based in Indianapolis from the 70’s to 2008.
Their Hawaii service was actually in partnership with SWA, the only airline SWA would code share with. Very bare bones and at one point actually sold a pass for something like $1200 dollars. This allowed for unlimited flights to Hawaii on ATA for 12 months.
Late 70’s into early 80’s — those great flights on Royal Hawaiian between HNL and the Kaanapali landing strip! Flying so low — spectacular views of Molokai reefs, cliffs and valleys on the way to Maui.
Also 70’s and 80’s — we would walk up to Aloha Airlines at Kahului and they would just take our luggage and say “OK if you leave on the next flight?” !!
Easy travel back then.
Thank you for confirming that I haven’t lost my mind! I visited Maui with my parents as a teenager in 1984, and recently returned with my partner. The long drive this year from the airport to Kaanapali – and the scenery along the way – seemed foreign to me, as I could sort of recall just a relatively short minibus ride from the hotel to and from where we landed way back then. Why did they stop using that airstrip I wonder?
Bigger aircraft, of course. Scratch the part about me not losing my mind!
Very interesting history of air service in paradise! I very much enjoyed. Not a pilot myself but father of Air Force and commercial flyer.
Hi Bill.
Thanks for that and your first comment.
Aloha.
This past November, we flew Mokulele from ITO-OGG-LNY. It truly was a “flightseeing” flight. According to the radar track, we flew at 1,000 feet along the east coast of Hawaii, climbing only after passing Hawi. The connecting flight flight from OGG-LNY was over the Iao Needle area, and I swear were weren’t more than 800 AGL when crossing. Amazing scenery.
Mahalo
Hi David.
Thanks for sharing that Mokulele experience.
Aloha.
I too, recall the coupon books, and being able to miss a Hawaiian flight, and just walk over to Aloha and catch the next flight in 20 minutes. Also remember taking a foam ice chest on four interisland flights, and having it survive just fine as checked baggage.
Mahalo
Loved Aloha Airlines! When I was covering Hawaii, I was flying over every six weeks. Aloha ran a flight from Oakland to Honolulu which was way more convenient than having to get to SFO. Plus. they had a code share with United so I could get Mileage Plus credit with every flight. Wish they were still flying.
There’s a lesson here, and Aloha was also our Inter-Island Choice, for your reasons in 5 Business Trips a year, Oahu-Maui. The questions on Hawaiian are real, as the local service is underwritten by the Long-Haul, the last two years, the pain to Tourism and kama’aina alike has been great, SW may be the best opportunity for the Inter-Island travel given their Hub & Spoke Model, and their Financial strength, competition is good. Hawaiian is the Gold Standard for travel to Hawaii.
Thanks, again for an interesting article. Unfortunately, you forgot to include Air Molokai. I flew on it several times, often in the co-pilot seat foe weight distribution. Mahalo and aloha for now.
Hi David.
We added them – thanks for that. We don’t remember them, and neither does Google. Very little information other than a crash.
Aloha.
Another airline, but didn’t have a lot of information attached to it, was Air Molokai, also known as Air Molokai-Tropic Airlines. Flew DC-3 cargo and passenger flights between Oahu and Molokai, connecting the island to both Oahu and Maui. Ran out of the south ramp at HNL.
The thing I remember about Mid Pacific was they had this huge schedule of flights daily, but then on the day of the flight would cancel the flights that were not well booked. So, you could get a reservation for an early flight, but by the time they finished juggling the flight schedules, your flight might be 3-4 hours later. Connecting to a flight to the mainland was always a gamble.
Another airline, more like an air taxi service but still influential was HATS – Hawaiian Air Tour Services – which ran DH Doves and Herons in their heyday. The owner, Hans Mueller, in the 1980s was scouting around to start an interisland airline to compete against Hawaiian and Aloha. the venture never got off the ground.
An interesting story about Mid Pacific – Formed at Honolulu on August 31, 1979 by former Hawaiian Airlines executives John Higgins, Ed Nielsen, and Nolan Kramer as the airline operating subsidiary of Mid-Pacific Air Corporation, it entered the market on March 15, 1981 with a single Japanese-made NAMC YS-11A. Eventually getting two Fokker F-28 jets, the airline went through a series of ownership transfers. before ceasing operations in Hawaii in 1988. Their big thing was coupons.
Mid-Pacific Airlines was great while they lasted. Loved the turboprops and friendly service. Also, they served fruit punch from McDonald’s on board! Was such a hoot to see the McDonald’s coolers being loaded aboard. Many of their pilots were from the military and sometimes you would get incredible views when they decided to bank sharply. Such fun!