A new Panda Express. A remodeled bathroom. A TSA employee’s break room. That’s what $14 million just bought at Honolulu Airport’s aging interisland Terminal 1, home of Hawaiian Airlines’ flights—and soon, Alaska Airlines, in the adjacent Mauka Concourse. It comes when the airport is woefully in need of meaningful upgrades.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation and Hawaiian Airlines—amplified uncritically by what remains of Hawaii’s traditional news media—call it a milestone in modernization. They say it’s part of an ongoing effort to improve the passenger experience. But judging by the response from travelers, these changes aren’t earning the applause officials may have hoped for.
Instead, the latest “upgrades” are sparking new frustration. Many wonder why so much was spent on what feels so little, especially as core airport problems continue unaddressed.
Travelers react: “Lipstick on a pig” or progress?
Beat of Hawaii readers have long shared their disappointment with Honolulu Airport. From hot and crowded gate areas to outdated signage, broken jet bridges and walkways, old and dysfunctional seating, long waits, and failing equipment at baggage claim, HNL has become known for its aging, uneven experience. That, despite lovely old features that once made it a wonderful airport to arrive at.
So when officials gathered to celebrate a fast-food chain and a few facility upgrades, many saw it as a sign of how far expectations have fallen.
One reader wrote, “This is what we’re bragging about now? I just flew out of HNL, and the seating was a mess, the intercom announcements were inaudible, and the gates were overcrowded.”
Another told us, “Maybe I’d care more about Panda Express if I wasn’t worried about getting stuck on the tarmac again with no working jetway.”
$14M spent, but what about the basics?
Hawaiian Airlines (Alaska), which controls Terminal 1 and the adjacent Mauka Concourse, funded the project. According to HDOT and the airline, it included a fully rebuilt restroom, a new breakroom for TSA workers, and the first of two new Panda Express locations. This August, the second location will open in the distant Terminal 2, where Alaska still operates.
While airlines often fund upgrades in terminals they operate, the narrow focus of this project struck a nerve.
One commenter summed up the mood this way: “If Hawaiian has $14 million for this, why are the gates still so cramped? Why is the lounge so tiny? It feels like lipstick on a pig.”
What’s missing from Honolulu Airport’s upgrades?
The announcement highlights what is—and isn’t—being addressed at Hawaii’s busiest airport.
Soon, replacements for dysfunctional dining tables and chairs will be available at Terminal 1 food outlets, though reports suggest these will be a minimal upgrade. A small addition, Waialua Cafe and Bar, is also set to open in the Mauka Concourse, but it’s not likely to move the needle in that terminal, which is largely still vacant of amenities. A second Panda Express is planned for Terminal 2. Is this really the best the state’s underperforming concessionaire can manage?
The basics are still missing. Additional gate space is needed to reduce crowding, and terminal seating remains outdated. The new carpeting in Terminal 1 has already drawn ridicule from readers who said it looks like it came from Walmart, prompting the question: “Who got bilked on that one?”
There have been no significant upgrades to cooling or ventilation in the concourses. Signage remains confusing and ineffective. Interisland transit connections are still clunky. Key infrastructure like escalators and jet bridges continues to fail.
None of these longstanding problems were mentioned in the most recent releases from HDOT or Hawaiian Airlines, and that silence is being noticed.
A familiar pattern of hype and letdown.
This isn’t the first time Honolulu Airport announcements have underwhelmed travelers. Readers may recall the $300 million Mauka Concourse project.
Other past announcements promised “world-class modernization,” only to reveal minor upgrades with little impact on the real passenger experience. Over time, the gap between the press release and reality has only grown wider.
Many are interpreting this latest round—featuring a fast-food franchise and an employee lounge—as more of the same.
The media’s role in selling the upgrades.
What also stands out this time is the way the news was delivered. Multiple Hawaii outlets covered the announcement using nearly identical language to the HDOT release, framing it as a successful partnership and a “model for collaboration.”
Between HDOT, Hawaiian Airlines, and Hawaii’s remaining traditional news outlets, there’s a well-worn pattern: modest improvements get dressed up as milestones, while the deeper problems are largely ignored.
Travelers, both residents and visitors, aren’t buying it. They’ve been through the terminals. They’ve seen the delays, the breakdowns, the discomfort. And no press conference, blessing, or ribbon-cutting can disguise that.
For Hawaiian (Alaska) Airlines, it was a calculated move.
The $14 million investment allows the airline to shape the experience in Terminal 1—its interisland hub—without waiting on state budget cycles or approvals, which have long frustrated all of the airlines serving Hawaii, as we have been told multiple times directly.
From a strategic standpoint, it’s understandable. But from a traveler’s point of view, it’s hard not to ask: why here, and why now?
Especially as the airline prepares to complete its acquisition by Alaska Airlines, some see the investment as a public relations play more than any meaningful improvement.
This project also comes as Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines begin physically integrating their operations at HNL. As previously reported on Beat of Hawaii, Alaska will relocate to the Mauka Concourse of Terminal 1, joining Hawaiian under one roof in what’s being described as a new terminal renaissance that includes a state-of-the-art lounge.
That context makes the restroom, restaurant, and staffing improvements part of a larger shift, though it doesn’t quiet traveler frustrations about what’s still broken and just how long it takes to get anything done there. Our take is that this has little to do with the airlines and everything to do with the state, its concessionaires, and Hawaii’s lack of an independent airport authority.
Will Honolulu Airport ever rise to the challenge?
This story isn’t about one restaurant or one restroom. It’s about a much bigger question. Can HNL finally deliver the kind of airport experience Hawaii deserves? Or will it continue to patch and polish while the foundations remain broken and ignored?
For returning residents and first-time visitors alike, the airport sets the tone for what’s to come. Right now, that tone feels stuck.
What’s your take on Honolulu Airport’s latest upgrade? Share your experience in the comments. Have you seen meaningful improvements, or is Hawaii still falling behind on airport basics?
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Whenever “improvements” don’t live up to expectations,
‘greed’ is always the answer as to why there is much disappointment.
Hawaii should follow along with the way Japan handles tourism; and that is via ‘Omotenashi!’ No “fakery” like we show here in Hawaii.
Our so-called “Aloha Spirit” is so sad to experience, especially for residents returning home from Nihon.
That’s what happens when the DOT runs thing.
We need a real Airport Board that knows what’s needed at all Hawaii Airports.
Rolling your luggage on the annoying and loud pebble hallways sometimes looking at stained ceiling tiles, and after having to be carried with luggage on hand, in a crowded wiki wiki bus towards immigration and luggage, like cattle to the slaughter, is a very negative and embarrassing experience, for someone who is visiting, willing to leave thousands of hard earned dollars in the State
HNL airport is definitely not what is expected of a state who receives millions of tourists a year, and it most definitely does not match the beauty that surrounds it!
It is depressing to see the contrast when you come to HNL from Singapore’s Changi Airport…its like from the king to the pauper!
So much for catering to the visitors. How about getting some walking escalators and working Wiki Wiki shuttles? The walk from American Airlines to the baggage claim is ridiculous, especially for someone with mobility problems.
Many states I frequent have recently completed airport upgrades at their airports that were already far nicer than HNL. SEA, PDX, and SLC are all beautiful. Until we get competent management at the Department of Transportation and the Airport Division, we will continue to have poor design, management, and maintenance. The condition of HNL versus the airports mentioned above is embarrassing. Our airport administrators should visit other airports to see what a well-designed and managed airport looks like, and figure out how to do that here.
I travel each month between Manila, Hanada, Tokyo, Inchon, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other. Our local airport has been for over 20 years the worst. The wiki buses are a joke. The persons who make decisions should be made to travel here from overseas and have to ride the wiwi wiki buses. There is nothing worse when you have a briefcase and carry bag and are a senior or a family and have to get on the bus where they pack u in like a pig. Make the decision makers experience arrivals and not sit in their office all day.
My personal experience is that commercial construction is expensive. Materials need to be durable and installation takes some time. I can lay a vinyl wood plank floor in my house in a few hours. Using tile with large dimensions takes a lot more time. Not sure what the scope of this $14M project was but suggest some cognizance with construction.
I wonder when we will see the “Panda” tax on tourists? Hawaii has done Green tax and infrastructure taxes and passed it onto tourists. So the Panda tax seems the next step….followed by the state employee retirement tourist tax, and the tourist Starbucks tax and….and….and…
Follow the money. Who got kickbacks this time?
There should be an independent mainland based forensic audit of how the money got doled out and spent. Let’s do one for the rail while we are at it. DOGE the airport and rail.
$14m? Somebody’s wallet fattened up.
I work at the airport. Have been for 35 years. The airport is dumpy. HIDOT-A works on the 7th floor of Terminal 1. It is their castle in the sky. My guess is that they never take the elevator downstairs to take a deep and unbiased look at the terminals. The air conditioning, where it is working, is inadequate on hot, humid days. In other areas, the open air concept reveals the humid Hawaiian air mixed in with rain and aircraft engine exhaust. The restrooms are smelly, dirty, without soap or paper towels, and the trash is overflowing. Signage (supposedly recently changed and upgraded) is still woefully inadequate. Gate seating is old, uncomfortable, and lacking in sufficient numbers for all the departing passengers on a flight. Walking in the International Arrivals corridor (third floor) from the C-Gates gives our foreign visitors a nice view of worn out carpets, stained ceiling tiles from roof leaks, dead plants or no plants in the exterior planters, and parked construction vehicles.
For the past 50 years, HDOT has shown residents and visitors that they are unable to run airports properly. A port authority would be the only way out of this mess. Of course, that will never happen. Too much $$$
would not be padding the pockets. Hawaii will be forever stuck in the past.
In addition to the much needed fixes to better accommodate travelers, why not a local restaurant?!?
Really, am I supposed to be excited about Panda Express? I truly dread every trip I have to take to, from, or through the Honolulu Airport. The signage stinks! The choices for food in the new concourse just plain don’t exist. The wait times are long, and the seating areas are congested and difficult to navigate. The sound system is weak, making it impossible to hear announcements. On the other hand-it Is in Hawaii, the garden is beautiful, the air is warm, and if you’re lucky you don’t have to spend much time there.
I went through Honolulu Airport twice yesterday, once a bit before the official opening and later in the day afterwards. I was entirely unaware of any changes beyond new fast food vendors and new terminals to order food. They need to do better.
If Alaska/Hawaiian airlines paid for the 14M upgrade then it has to be for their benefit. Upgrading Panda express next to their gate as well as restrooms draws in tourists to fly their brand. I tell you that you can smell a Chinese restaurant a block away. The rich even need to eat. Clean, new, brings in crowds. Wouldn’t you like the cleanest, most popular, aromic, food restaurant next to your gate. Marketing pure Marketing. The game is draw the people to our gates. As the rest falls apart more people will come. IMO the 14M was considered a donation with one stipulation on the table.
We have so many local kau kau places that must be part of the airport experience (eg : Leonards, Zippys, L&L, etc..) vs. mainland HMS Host Corporate food outlets.
The HNL airport is an important facility for our locals and guests to the islands.
Hawaii Airport authority is asked to highlight our food, music and arts.
Bring back the 1970s .. when arriving ‘home’ felt so special !
This airport has been the same as far as I can remember since I came through it in the 1960 and 1970.
The bathrooms are smelly and not clean. Also, look at the floor lobbies they are also unkept some places have waxed floors, others not. why are the food prices “So High?” I just came back from Seattle Seatac and purchased food there and it was reasonably priced.
Well, It sounds to me like the up grades were not put to good use or in the wrong spot. As a outsider to Hawaii. They need to care about the travelers. There first impression is important. Tourists need to feel like the airlines care about the terminal. It is inexcusable after seeing what the main problems area,s are + not do anything to them. Sad state of affairs. U need to care about what is going on. Bad reviews is not the way to get people to care. It starts within. Get it together otherwise u are going to not have any tourists. U raise the taxes on places to stay. Use that money. It’s ur first impression that counts.
I don’t care about luxury when I travel from Maui to Honolulu But clean, reliable, well-signed, and efficient should be non-negotiable. Honolulu deserves an airport that reflects the beauty of the islands. It has not in a long time.
There are still things I like about HNL including gardens you’ve mentioned before, and the open air feeling. But this is kind of over the top in terms of being promoted like this.
I appreciate any investment in the airport, but it’s frustrating that the focus always seems to be on what’s visible, not what’s useful. Basic comfort and functionality should come first. Please.
Honestly, I don’t mind the Panda Express. Sometimes you just want something familiar before boarding. But let’s not pretend this is a game-changing improvement when the gates still feel so old and the signage is barely readable.
I hope Alaska Airlines moving in means real changes are coming soon to the airport. Because this isn’t it.
Okay I still love HNL and always will. But not sure who can’t tell that Terminal 1 still feels like 1998?
We arrived in Honolulu in February. It was our first visit to Oahu.
First impressions when we landed in Honolulu was this airport is a dump! Signage is terrible for the first time traveller to this airport.
I remember my mom’s advice from when I was much younger. If you don’t know where you are going once you land, just follow the crowd. This was very old advice that worked for us.
Our first impression when we landed in Oahu was “oh dear we have spent a fortune on this trip” and we were scared the rest of the vacation was going to be like the airport.
Thankfully it wasn’t! After paying all the taxes on our room, plus exchange rate we wonder where are all the taxes are actually going to?
Honestly, I’d take a functioning escalator outside of terminal 1 and decent signage over that fast-food chain any day. The basics aren’t being addressed at all.
Between that and all the restrooms on hiking trails that are broken one has to not re-elect those in charge
We come to see family but that will be ending soon