Forty years ago, Hawaii hosted a formal gala at the Royal Hawaiian to welcome a planeload of visitors who had just crossed the Pacific. The ballroom opened, guests arrived dressed for the evening, and there were speeches. The Honolulu arrival itself was treated as something worth marking.
The flight in February 1986 marked the 50th anniversary of the original Pan Am China Clipper crossing that first linked Hawaii to Asia by commercial airliner. The widebody aircraft stopped in Honolulu for two days as part of that journey, and for the passengers, Hawaii was the prize rather than just a layover. The reception reflected the importance of how it received Hawaii visitors.
One of those passengers wrote to us. Cassell, who was based in Hong Kong at the time, flew on that trip and shared it with us. Here’s how the Honolulu stop was remembered:
“I was with Pan Am based in Hong Kong in Feb 1985. Pan Am re-enacted a flight done 50 years prior. The China Clipper. It flew from SFO to HNL, then Wake, Midway, Guam, and finally Manila, its final destination in 1935. We re-enacted the exact routing using a B747 aircraft, and it was sold to the public. All aviation buffs. The plane stopped in HNL for 2 days, and a huge gala was held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel… It was an amazing time !! Also, just about the end of Pan Am in Asia/Pac. The Pacific Division was sold to United Airlines. Pac Day was 11 Feb 1986.”
Within weeks of that Honolulu stop, Pan Am’s Pacific Division went to United, and a few years later, Pan Am itself disappeared. The airline that once defined Pacific travel was absorbed into a larger network. Cassell didn’t write to us about corporate consolidation, but about the ballroom at the Royal Hawaiian and how Hawaii welcomed visitors upon arrival. That detail is what stayed with him for four decades.
When arrival in Hawaii felt like the event.
There was a time when landing in Honolulu felt like the long anticipated moment of the trip. Crossing five hours of ocean meant something in itself. Airlines built their Hawaii marketing around that very idea. Waikiki hotels leaned into it, too, once you stepped off the plane and reached the lobby.
If you have been coming here since the 1980s or 1990s, you likely remember that tone and the many nuances. It was not subtle. Hawaii projected a welcome first and foremost, then handled the details later.
Today, the experience begins very differently. You land, and there is no lei greeting. You collect your bag and check the trip details on your phone. The fees and taxes start stacking up, and you’ll need to check reservations that are required for some of the most popular and iconic sites. Before you reach the sand, you already understand how the system works and all the modern-day complexities.
Visitor numbers continued to climb for decades as roads and beaches filled up, and residents started to push back. After the pandemic pause, and again after the Lahaina fire, state leaders made it clear that tourism would be managed very differently going forward, and that visitors would fund far more of their impact. The language shifted, and the tone and the experience shifted with it.
The airline story runs in parallel.
Pan Am folded into United. The brand that once was the ultimate symbol of Pacific glamour did not survive consolidation, even though the routes continued under different names.
Hawaiian Airlines carried the island identity for decades after that and continued to reinforce the feeling that flying to Hawaii was still somehow different. Now Hawaiian sits inside Alaska’s network as part of another airline consolidation cycle. The aircraft still fly the same routes, but the names have changed, and the system around them feels different.
What once leaned on welcome and ceremony now leans on management and control. What once treated a Honolulu arrival as something to celebrate now treats it very differently.
The Royal Hawaiian still stands on Waikiki Beach, and the same stretch of sand still fills with visitors at sunset. Planes still make the final right turn and head in low over Oahu before touching down at Honolulu Airport. The setting all looks familiar, but the structure around arrival feels very different from what it once did.
Forty years ago, Hawaii threw a symbolic gala to welcome a planeload of visitors. Today, it operates a managed tourism system built around fees, reservations, and fewer visitors. One felt like a celebration, and the other feels transactional.
If you have been coming to Hawaii long enough to remember what we’re talking about, when arrival felt like it was the event itself, tell us what you remember and when it began to feel different to you. If you believe the shift was necessary to protect the islands, we get that, too. When did you first notice it felt different?
Lead Photo: © Beat of Hawaii at Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
