When we checked in this evening on Hawaiian Airlines, we immediately knew something was wrong. It was just as has been reported to us in email and comments. Four boarding passes, covering two flights, all missing TSA PreCheck despite active enrollment and those being long-associated with our Hawaiian Airlines profiles, which we reconfirmed again today for this reservation.
Earlier today, and even since Friday, the airline’s app had been warning of this PreCheck issue, but by the time we checked in, two things happened. First, the notice had vanished, which gave us hope that the problem had been resolved. Second, unfortunately, that was not the case, and there was no explanation and no option to fix it, just boarding passes routing us straight into the general TSA security line.
Hawaii travelers take notice during this busy holiday weekend.
Luckily, this wasn’t something we discovered at the airport, which is why we are giving other travelers flying on Hawaiian this busy holiday week advance notice. We plan to arrive at the airport several hours in advance, as suggested for Hawaii airports. We’ll also check the MyTSA app in advance to try to avoid any hassles at the airport.
The issue was revealed only on the boarding passes themselves. If we hadn’t looked closely, we’d have assumed the PreCheck was on them, as has been true for years. Once the passes were issued without PreCheck, there was no way to fix it. No toggle. No reissue option. No help text pointing to a workaround. You go where the boarding pass sends you.
On Friday, Hawaiian Airlines acknowledged on its website that it is “currently encountering an issue” where the TSA PreCheck indicator may not appear on boarding passes. The airline told travelers that if the indicator does not display, they will need to use the general security line. Hawaiian also said it is working with its vendor to resolve the issue.
That is the entirety of the solution being offered at this time.
The airline has not named the vendor involved, offered any timeline for resolution, or explained whether the problem affects all or only specific routes. We weren’t sure it would snag us, and then it did. The only instruction so far is the one above to arrive early and be prepared to use general security, even if you are fully enrolled in TSA PreCheck and your PreCheck is associated with your reservation.
We are also getting reports from other Hawaiian Airlines passengers, including descriptions of another version of the problem. In at least some cases, we have been told that the boarding pass did display the TSA PreCheck indicator, but TSA still denied it because the traveler was not showing in their PreCheck system. It isn’t clear whether the issue may be affecting the handoff of PreCheck enrollment between Hawaiian/Alaska’s systems and TSA’s.
The timing doesn’t help. This is going to be one of the heaviest travel weeks of the year, with the post-vacation return period starting. Interisland flights have been running very full over the holidays, making arriving early and being aware of the problem even more important. Mainland connections tend to tighten security windows more. When PreCheck suddenly disappears like this, it not only slows individual travelers, but it also reshuffles already strained TSA lines at a time they can least absorb it.
Over the past few months, airline technology failures have repeatedly hit Hawaiian and Alaska. Before this, in October, a data center failure grounded Alaska flights nationwide for hours. A separate Microsoft Azure outage soon thereafter affected both Hawaiian and Alaska simultaneously, just as their systems began to merge. Those were large and highly visible disruptions. This week’s PreCheck failure is smaller, but the holiday travel period timing makes it worse. The airlines’ answer has largely been the same across all the issues, arrive earlier and build in a buffer while the underlying technology problems have remained more abstract.
For now, there is no known workaround for those traveling this week. If your boarding pass does not display TSA PreCheck, you are being directed to the general security line. Agents cannot add it manually. Reprinting the boarding pass has not helped. Switching devices has not done anything reliably either.
If you are flying Hawaiian in the next few days, please do yourself a favor and check your boarding passes carefully as soon as you check in. Do not assume PreCheck will appear just because it always has on prior Hawaiian flights. And do budget extra time through security, especially during peak holiday windows and tight connections. We’ll report back on our own travel experiences tomorrow and report what others are encountering as well.
Hawaiian Airlines comment to Beat of Hawaii.
“Aloha, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We value your feedback and will be sure to share this with our Management team for their review and action. Furthermore, if you’d like to file a formal complaint, please visit https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/content/contact-us/email/complaint. Mahalo, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
We are interested in hearing what others are experiencing. Is this affecting your Hawaiian routes, and if so, which ones? Did your TSA PreCheck vanish the same way, or did it show on the boarding pass. If it did show up, were you cleared through PreCheck, or did the boarding pass still get rejected at the checkpoint?
Photo Credit: Beat of Hawaii at HNL.
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To be clear. Aloha went out of business primarily due to the illegal activities of Mesa Air and Go.
Very true to Rich, in fact you could say the trouble all started with Deregulation and a group of ex HA execs started Mid Pacific Airlines. The entire deregulation era was one of multiple start up airlines hacking away at HA and AQ and the traveling public was the winner. However it also gave many unrealistic ideas what an Inter Island ticket should cost.
This just another valid reason to avoid flying to Hawaii using Hawaiian Arlines. Their prices are higher than other US carriers and now Pre-TSA doesn’t work consistently. What a let down!
I printed/downloaded my boarding pass on the Hawn Air app yesterday & my TSA pre-check was there going from Maui to San Jose
Unfortunately the Alternatives are worse…..If Alaska gets through all the merger speed bumps it’s still got potential
When Aloha Airlines went out of business in 2008, Hawaiian gave no thought to the local flying public and jacked their prices up as high as the market would bear. Southwest forced them to lower fares. I have very little sympathy for Hawaiian and the glitches that now befall them. They’re well deserved.
Just to be clear Frank, Hawaiian and Aloha had unsustainable fare wars, often instigated by Aloha that ultimately put AQ out of business. HA did raise the fares to a level that would insure sustainability in the market, but it wasn’t price gouging. Then SWA came in and lost Millions trying to put HA out of business so they could raise the fares for themselves. Reliable inter island jet service is not cheap to produce and not possible at the fares many want to pay.
GO Airlines contributed to Aloha Airlines demise among other financial troubles. Interestingly, the State of Hawaii provided a loan to Hawaiian Airlines in 1993 to help with it’s financial troubles but did not do the same for Aloha Airlines. Politics???
Is HA becoming the Bas__ child of AS. Sure looks like it
Jim
Yes!