Flying to Hawaii once felt like part of the vacation. Now airlines pack the islands into smaller planes, leaving travelers cramped and nostalgic for the glamour vanishing from the skies.
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90 thoughts on “Hawaii Travelers Brace As Comfort Collapse Spreads Across Airlines”
No trip even on a wide body plane is comfortable or luxurious including a trip to Hawaii. So a two seat isle os not for me , ever.
The only way I fly to Hawaii in on business class.
This is just another (of many) disappointing fact about air travel. They take our money (much more) and give us less. It’s all about the all mighty dollar. Air travel was once a great luxury. Unfortunately that is not the case now.
Hawaii is a beautiful destination, the flights are long. I wonder how many travelers they will lose.
It continues to baffle me that a five hour flight is so unbearable to some that they will jettison a two week vacation, 336 hours if we are going to get technical, for 9 or 10 hours of flying. Hawaii is 5 hours from the West Coast, Mexico is 2 or 3 from the West Coast, 5 from the East. The Caribbean is 5 from the West, closer to the East but you get a lot of safety concerns there and places like the USVI or the Caymans are no less expensive than Hawaii. Many if not everyone who reads BofH travels, do they all demand widebody aircraft on every flight they take? Are the demanding 787s and 777s on every transcon SFO-JFK trip? Do they refuse to go anywhere if they have to be on a plane more than 3 hours? What I’m reading suggests that to be the case which I know is Not the case. For those complaining about expensive plane tickets, a $440 economy ticket from LAX to HNL in 1980 would cost the equivalent of $1,524 today so airfares have come Way down, not up, that is just a fact.
It’s sad that the allure of the special flight to Paradise is being reduced to a City Bus type ride. It’s seems that the Hawaiian Experience is being lost. The Aloha Spirit that you get on a Hawaiian Airlines Flight is disappearing. Yes, they say that they will keep the brand but somehow you end up on another Airlines that owns that brand , the experience is not the same. The same Aloha Spirit is just not there. I understand, it’s all about profit and bottom line for the shareholders. But that first frontline experience can make or break your whole Hawaiian Experience. What’s next, Standing room only with handrails. So Sad.
No trip even on a wide body plane is comfortable or luxurious including a trip to Hawaii. So a two seat isle os not for me , ever.
The only way I fly to Hawaii in on business class.
I am disappointed if the wide bodies go away. I have a seat that I love and get every year. I pay extra for it. I’m hating the Alaska changes.
Given the current state of flying – to Hawai`i or elsewhere – in ways airline execs just don’t experience, see, or even empathize with; and the hard facts of costs & pricing (except for non-IATA, nationalized carriers) it’s a done deal. (It can take me 2-3 hours to get to the airport, another 3 to process thru, all for an uncomfortable 5+ hour flight; ditto on the back end.) Only solution is to pay up, or some kinda “space odyssey” deal: pack us in, turn on the cryogenics* or anaesthesia and wake us up at destination. No meals, drinks, complaints, or non-compliant pax; and minimal overhead.
* Or redefine “comfort”: HA used to turn the cabin temp WAY down on packed flights HNL-PPG. We gladly huddled together for warmth, neighbors became “seat-mates” preferring close, friendly collaboration over personal space, amenities, or gripes.
So you expect airlines to reduce their profitabilty for the “grandure” of a flight to Hawaii? The 1960’s are calling you. Hawaii has lots of grandure to offer once the traveler gets here. Just dont expect it on the plane ride. Lower fares and more selections work for me.
The flight to Hawaii, regardless of what airlines using the single aisle for five hours crammed in the small seats is gonna be unbearable. I get cramps in my legs and claustrophobia saying so close to people. The flight attendants are really gonna be able to go up and down the aisle and if they have that cart, you can’t get to the bathroom. I don’t think the airlines thought this thing through and only profits are consideration. The passenger has become forgotten it’s all about profits and it’s not just a simple five hour. Flight. Five hours is five hours. I am not happy with the directions. The airlines are going. I will look for an airline That respects their customers to Hawaii. I used to fly United but not sure anymore.
People stop flying to Hawaii. Too costly on the island anyway. There other beautiful places to visit and you can fly a wide body jet.
Airline travel is simply brutal for the average traveler compared to what it used to be. I am an aviation enthusiast, former private pilot, and former USAFR flight crew member. You’d think given that history that I’d love to fly. No! I have as much if not more contempt for the commercial airline industry than they do for the average traveler. It’s all about squeezing money from us, and nothing more! Even a two-hour domestic flight makes you feel like cattle! Given that and the current unwelcoming atmosphere for tourists in Hawaii, I doubt I will ever return.
Before I lived in Hawaii and we use to fly from Denver to Kauai or Maui via LAX or SFO and HNL it was an all day affair requiring two airlines two connections and dare I say many, many hours spent in one off those airports after missing a connection, having an interisland flight cancelled or overbooked, having a return HNL to mainland flight overbooked or any other combination of mishaps that could cause the entire puzzle of flights to come apart at the seams. While the one wide body part of getting to Hawaii was memorable I’m not sure it made up for the extra time and complexity we all dealt with in getting to Hawaii in the past. Now I can get from Kona to just about any west coast or middle American city I need to non stop and vice versa. Same can be said for Honolulu and OGG. To a lesser extent LIH but still one can get to Hawaii much more easily and faster with much lesser chance of getting bound up with one or two connection delays as was common in the past.
So, back in the day (1965-1975), what were ticket prices like? What would a round trip from Los Angeles have cost in today’s money?
Comfort over conveniece every time for me. Let’s face it, this is where our long awaited vacations begin. Where is the sense of relaxation being herded onto a narrow aircraft and being tucked into a narrow space for five hours. No thank you very much!
I thoroughly agree Angela!
I prefer comfort. The narrow body planes are so tight and with travelers weighing more than they used to, it is a really long uncomfortable flight.
Been there many times. About 9 including my honeymoon. But I will never return, it is in the US and I am Canadian. No more US anything for me, travel, food, any products. That said many parts are just stunning. Mexico from now on!