Once upon a time, meals were an integral part of the Hawaii flight experience we looked forward to. They weren’t always great, but when heading to Hawaii, they still felt like something—a welcome, a small celebration that you were on your way to paradise. Today? That tray table is mostly empty unless you fill it yourself. The airline food, if it shows up at all, is often a sad joke.
This shift is especially relevant now, with Alaska Airlines owning and likely phasing out key parts of Hawaiian’s old service model. That is almost certain to include food on domestic and South Pacific flights.
The end of complimentary meals to Hawaii.
For years, Hawaiian Airlines was the last major U.S. carrier offering complimentary hot meals in economy class on all flights between the mainland and Hawaii. We still remember them with at least a modicum of fondness. Then it took a big dive—think nondescript meat-stuffed roll trying to pass as a gourmet calzone. But at least it came with the ticket.
Now, even that tradition is in jeopardy. Alaska Airlines, which completed its acquisition of Hawaiian and will soon finalize integration, hasn’t offered free meals in economy since 2017. While Alaska touts premium first-class dining on select long-haul routes, Hawaii is largely left out. Once charming in economy, the fruit-and-cheese plate now feels like a sad little splurge. And those days when Alaska partnered with actual Hawaii restaurants for in-flight meals from the islands? Long gone too. Times have changed.
What airlines offer (or don’t offer) on Hawaii flights.
Today, most airlines flying to Hawaii include little or nothing regarding meals in economy. That is, unless you consider an under one-ounce snack option as something. Comments from Beat of Hawaii readers confirm the pattern. While Hawaiian Airlines still technically serves meals, the quality is mixed.
One reader called the current offering a pseudo “gourmet hot pocket.” Another said, “Breakfast was fair, but the roll with pepperoni? I took two bites and couldn’t eat it.” The smell alone is enough to end your appetite, but unless you brought your food, it might just be a good thing.
Alaska Airlines offers food only for purchase in economy. The fruit-and-cheese plate still gets mentioned, but it’s far from memorable. One reader said: “I’ll be flying in suites next week and I’m still bringing my food. If anything from the airline works, great—but it isn’t worth stressing over.”
Delta and United: Expect snacks at best. A granola bar or pretzels, maybe a cookie. Meals are rare unless you’re on a long-haul flight from Atlanta or Chicago.
American Airlines: Few readers recall getting food at all. If there was a meal, it left no impression.
Southwest: No meals, but consistently poor snacks. Most flyers at least know what they’re getting, and the crews are friendly.
First class that isn’t what it used to be.
Many travelers assume that first class guarantees better meals among its other amenities. That’s not always true anymore.
Even Alaska Airlines’ premium offerings have drawn complaints about repetition and quality. One reader noted that “portions are small, choices are limited, and beverage options are low-end.”
Hawaiian’s first class once stood out with locally inspired dishes. That’s fading fast. One flyer described their last meal as “a plastic container of mushy rice and mystery meat.” BOH readers concur that Hawaiian’s first-class food has taken a dive in recent years. We’ll try it again soon on the Dreamliner and will provide a complete review update.
Why airline meals disappeared.
So what happened to meals on Hawaii flights? The decline has been steady and deliberate.
Cost-cutting is a major factor. Airlines began trimming services before the pandemic, which only made matters worse. While first-class food is clearly a renewed focus across the industry, airlines haven’t brought many meals back to economy—and never will.
Catering challenges in Hawaii airports have long made delivering consistent food service on outbound flights harder. That’s probably one reason Alaska’s chef-designed menu skips the islands entirely.
Passenger expectations have shifted, too. With more travelers bringing their food, airlines have less incentive to invest in something better that would likely be met with only marginal acceptance.
And then there’s flight duration. West Coast to Hawaii routes run five to six hours, long enough to need food, but not long enough to force airlines to serve it.
The result is underwhelming snacks, overpriced buy-on-board menus, and many empty tray tables.
What we do now when we fly.
We’ve mostly stopped expecting anything from airlines when it comes to food. Even in premium cabins, we always plan to bring our own.
Sometimes it’s homemade. Sometimes it’s a sandwich and chips from Big Save or Foodland on the way to the airport. The point is to eat what we want, when we want it—without relying on reheated trays, shrink-wrapped rolls, or insulting overpriced fruit and cheese.
A reader described their strategy: “We eat and drink at different intervals than the onboard service. Sounds unrealistic, but it works.”
Here are two things that have made a difference for us:
Wrap your meal in foil or parchment inside a reusable zip bag so it’s easy to handle and doesn’t get soggy. Skip anything that needs more than disposable utensils or smells strongly.
Grab something from a grocery store near the airport rather than from the terminal. Even a simple tuna on wheat beats most airline offerings—and those of the dismal airport choices, at least at all of Hawaii’s airports.
Nostalgia that doesn’t fill you up.
Many readers still remember when airlines treated food as part of the Hawaii experience. Flights to the islands once meant real silverware in coach, multiple courses and cart service in first class, and signature dishes unique to each carrier.
Reader John recalled United’s Royal Hawaiian Service and Western’s DC-10 Islander flights. “The space, service, and meals in coach were better than what passes for first class today.”
Another reader joked, “the seat was incredible, but the food was full of glitches.”
Today’s experience couldn’t be more different. Food has become one more casualty in the race to cut costs, eliminate perks, and squeeze travelers at every step.
What you can do instead.
If you’re flying to Hawaii this summer, plan ahead. Unless you’re coming from beyond the West Coast, most airlines won’t feed you anything—and if they do, you might just wish they hadn’t.
Bring your own food, and think beyond packaged snacks. We’ve carried poke bowls in leakproof containers, vegetarian sushi, soba noodles, even cold fried rice with furikake. It travels well, fills you up, and feels like a proper meal. It entirely elevates the flight experience. And it will always catch the attention of hungry flight attendants.
Reader Mike A. summed it up: “We tried your three-seat trick last year and it worked perfectly. Saved money compared to first class. And we sure didn’t miss the airline food.”
Your turn.
Have you flown to Hawaii recently? What did your airline serve—if anything?
And if you’ve found a go-to system for inflight meals or snacks that makes flying easier, we want to hear about that, too. Mahalo!
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Like you, I always pack a sandwich and something I enjoy to eat on my flights.
A couple of weeks ago, I was flying home to Kauai. Our row of six seats (three on each side of the aisle) no one accepted the pop tart sandwich. Everyone brought their own food. The flight attendant laughed when I suggested there may be hungry people who want an extra sandwich! That being said, my sweet groom loves those sandwiches. If I bring one home for him, he is the happiest man on Kauai!
Mahalo for all you do to keep us informed of the airline and island updates.
Years ago you had the option of getting a ticket which had no meal with it, just the normal beverage service. When flying to Hawaii we would have fried chicken and musabi and the return we’d get a plate lunch from Byron’s Drive-in or a food truck on Sand Island Road. A real meal in the air.
Honestly just another reason I’m done with Hawaii and my loyalty to Hawaiian. Sure the meals may have not been the best, but it’s the thought the counted, especially when No Other domestic airline even bothers serving a meal.
Sure, I remember UA’s Royal Hawaiian Service out of ORD to HNL on their DC-10-10’s – and that was the time when UA had no international service to speak of – so those long-haul flights were their crown jewels!
You can be certain that the AS ELT is busy planning and strategizing how meals/catering in coach, premium economy and first/business will look like on widebody long-haul international flights – as well as 787 premium transcon SEA-JFK flights.
For me, I’m satisfied with the food selection on their LAX-EWR transcons – plus – an uncrowded LAX T6, access to the AS Lounge/Board Room and upgraded to first as a 100K – the best upgrade program of any domestic airline (purchasing Y, B, H, K, M fares).
The food service to/from Hawaii should be compared to what’s offered on current long-haul leisure/VFR routes from SEA/SFO/SJC/LAX – to Mexico, Costa Rica and Guatemala. These are not premium routes. In first a full meal is offered (during meal times).
Flew F/C on AA from HNL a week and a half ago. Dinner was a salad of mixed greens w chevre and pomegranate w sweet Maui Onion dressing. The starter was prosciutto wrapped around pears w more chevre. The entree was grilled beef filet, roasted fingerling potatoes, and grilled broccolini w a choice of bread rolls. The starters were better than the entree which was held a little too long (WHAAA). Desert was fruit and cheese (a sundae). Can’t complain.
Best Regards
We get to the airport, (PDX) 3 hours early. Check all the bags with 2 free each with Alaska Visa. Relax with a nice breakfast at Henry’s. Pre-order fruit and cheese platter on Alaska and are fine for the 5.5 hr flight. Does anyone want to pay a $100 extra for the ticket to get a free $10 unedible meal?
In April when I flew Hawaiian Air from Seattle to Honolulu I brought 2 McDonald’s sausage and egg mcmuffins that I bought the day before. I refrigerated them and next morning I nuked them for 5 mins before leaving for SEA-TAC. That was my breakfast prior to boarding. I can’t do the hot pocket “brick”. Had it once and that was it, never again.
I always make spam musubi either the night before or the day of depending on what time the flight is. And I take them out before going through TSA because if it’s in my bag, the screener pulls it for inspection. I think because the musubi’s mass makes it suspicious. Also there’s usually 8 of them. 🤣🤣
I’d like to dispute the idea that United offers meals on HNL/ORD flights in Economy. There are meals available for purchase, but “meals” would be a stretch for a definition. And why the ORD to HNL flight, which is close to nine hours, has no meal included is beyond me.
April 2025 Hawaiian Air Seattle to Maui food was a large bread bun a micro thin slice of what they called turkey and some sort of sauce. This was the same offering on the same flight May 2024. We passed. My tray table was also not clean or sanitary looking.
Food on UA? You’ve got to kidding.
I’ve found that hawaian airlines hot sandwiches much better fare than you get on the other airlines. Most of the people I speak with say the same thing. Appreciate it while you can. And bring your own snacks.
The bring your own fried rice is a winning idea. I’ll eat in a lounge if available, bring along some homemade fried rice, and grab a couple of snacks to take in my backpack.
I just take L&L on board when leaving the islands. One plate lunch can get me from Honolulu to Boston.
Mac Salad and Teri Chicken, so ono!
We let the airlines provide the transportation and we bring some delicious meals. For example, on our return flight from Maui last time, we stopped by Leoda’s Cafe and purchased a Reuben sandwich and a mini Banana Cream pie.
We enjoyed the best meal on the plane!
Why is it that every time I have flown United First Class to Hawaii or across the country, that the pre-selected meals are not available? If the menu changes or the meal “out of stock” 24 hours before the flight they should let us know so we can adjust our expectations or buy our own food before the flight. They also should not ask people in seats ahead of me, who did not reserve a meal ahead of time, if they would like the meal I reserved if the are going to run out by the time they get to me. An easy solution this would be for first class flight attendants to have a some type of device to keep tract of who pre-selected a meal and who is getting what at that exact time.
I was surprised to learn United Airlines still serves complimentary inflight meals on longer-haul flights to and from Hawaii.
I had flight from Kauai to Vegas, that had one connecting stop in Denver and was served a multi-course meal (a dinner roll, fresh-cut pineapple served with a wedge of lime, grilled chicken over a quinoa salad, and some Hawaiian Host chocolates).
It seems they’ve been serving meals for long haul flights since August 2021. These are flights that go from Hawaii to/from a destination farther than California.
And in February 2025, United upgraded offerings of hot meals.
I think being served an inflight meal makes the whole flight experience much more enjoyable… I didn’t mind flying an additional hour.
Alaska has a pretty shifty meal scheme for first class. They say they will serve a meal on flights over about 700 miles that leave at traditional meal time which they define in a very small window. Of course Horizon or Sky West flights have no meal service in first class of any length, even the 2+ hour at meal time flights. Their new chef curated first class menu is for trans-con SEA-JFK and EWR and one other I think, DCA? So just those routes, three flights. I have flown first class on Alaska for years and meals went from consistent regardless of the time of day to rarely a meal.
Delta first class to the islands has a very good multi course meal service that prompts you to select your entree in the week before your flight and the choices I got for my Tuesday LAX -KOA flight were similar to the selections that I had on a recent SLC-AMS flight in March so definitely high quality. United Polaris HNL-SFO in January also had excellent plated dinner.
Yup, forget food if you’re flying West coast to HI. Flew Hawaiian first class this trip, flying back to the coast today. You are correct: if you want a decent meal, bring it yourself. First class is about space and a drink, except flying inter-island. Then the flight attendant will tell you, “There’s no alcohol on the aircraft, sir”. Scratch one for Hawaiian, I just wanted a brandy! The food? Mickie Ds would be a better option! But, as stated/implied by BoH, best bring your own because the airlines, by serving you ‘dog food’ (or nothing at all), have conditioned you to accept this deprivation as ‘the new normal’. Ta-da! Mission accomplished!
AA wide body out of DFW or PHX (seasonally) includes a Häagen-Dazs ice cream sundae for dessert with your choice of toppings, sometimes to include macadamia nuts and/or lilikoi syrup. A nice treat. They used to make it in front of you but now make it in the galley. In coach on the wide body flights, you get a wrap. The vegetarian wrap with noodles in a hoisin sauce is actually tasty. Better than the meat option. No food in coach on the narrow body flights.
Bring your own food. Always. I work for a local airline. I cannot tell you how many times there have been roaches and ants seen crawling in the aircraft galleys. Commercial “trap-a-roach” sticky traps are placed in meal cart storage areas to “reduce” their numbers. The aircraft galleys and meal carts are rarely deep cleaned—there is no time as the aircraft is constantly in service. When the cabin crew preps the meals before passenger boarding, the food is left out in the open during that time on the unsanitized galley counters where numerous people walk by talking and sometimes coughing. The cabin crew does not wear gloves or masks while opening up the First Class meals for reheating. If this were a restaurant, the aircraft would certainly get a Red Placard and be shut down. Why do you think the cabin crew brings their own food or gladly accepts a passenger’s gift of food instead of eating any extra passenger or crew meal?
I agree….. and don’t forget the airline coffee made with the aircraft’s potable water. I’m sure that tank & coffee reservoir haven’t been consistently cleaned ( I don’t consider the boiling hot water used in preparation as eliminating all risks ). Same with the seats, pillows & blankets (although the latter two are barely offered these days, of course).
This is from personal observation as well during my course of airline employment.
I just (May 2025) flew economy class from Denver to Honolulu on United Airlines and received a complementary meal.
Generally speaking, we get what we pay for. Americans want things cheap so they can feel like they’re rich, but a side effect is that everything becomes more mediocre. If Americans wanted a higher grade economy experience what would it cost?
Southwest no longer offered your pictured snack pack on our last SW flight to Kauai. I think it was reduced to onion flavored pretzels & a two pack of oreos…so ridiculous for a 6 hour flight. We’ve learned to bring our own meal.
I fly SWA a lot between Kona and LAX. They do not offer the package shown in the picture anymore. Instead, on my flights we were given a choice of several options and allowed to pick what we wanted. I always bring my own food, so haven’t really paid attention to the selections, but did see it included roasted almonds as one choice. Then we were offered Oreo cookies close to landing. Seems a step up and appreciate having choices.
Why do you always seem to leave American Airlines out of Travel News. Then when you do you don’t get it right. American Airlines typically provides a full meal service in Main Cabin on flights to Hawaii, according to NerdWallet. This includes an entrée, sides, a dessert, and a snack.
The editors don’t seem to like AA. I can’t say that I blame them but the lack of flying on AA means less reporting on AA. However, if you are in the DFW area, AA is the dominant carrier, so you’re probably going to be on an AA flight. So would be nice to know about AA in the mix.
Flying from where, to HI?
Complimentary meals on American Airlines are only offered on their longer-haul flights that go from Dallas or Chicago to Hawaii. All other flights offer meals for a fee.
I fly Hawaiian first class, although a splurge, is worth it. Drinks, macadamia nuts, hot food. The quality of the food has declined a bit but still worth it. I am concerned that with Alaskan’s takeover will change this.
I have never understood why the calzone thing is not vegetarian, they eliminate many folks right off the bat. Also, Foodland offers many fantastic options to take on board.
Yes. Turkey Bacon Paninni in the deli is one.
Mmmm. Some poke, a nice bento. We grab Foodland Farms for the trip. The Ala Moana location has a nice food selection and is near the airport.
I flew to and from Oahu on May 5 return on May 12th to and from Sacramento. I expected a “trayed” meal for breakfast, but instead a hot egg and turkey sausage sandwich. It was quite tasty, but that was it, I think maybe a cookie before landing.
on the return, oh my, a calzone type sandwich. I told the flight attendant where’s the Hawaiian Hospitality, serving an Italian sandwich…oh my. I brought a Spam Musubi from ABC and ate it on board very satisfying. Along with snacks from Longs (iso peanuts, turkey jerky and taro chips).
I will be flying first class from HNL to Haneda in August, I can’t imagine what the meal would be like. I’ve seen other airlines offer hot ramen at anytime onboard, not sure Hawaiian is that sophisticated in its meal service. I am an ardent fan of Hawaiian (being a local) and will continue to fly Hawaiian and bring my own ‘bento” for flights.
“And it will always catch the attention of hungry flight attendants?” That’s not a nice thing to say, flight attendants are there for your safety.
That’s what they say in the announcements, but it’s more to cover for the excuse as to why they don’t have to work as hard anymore and provide anything that resembles service. The sad thing is that they don’t even provide safety. On a recent flight a handicapped woman with a caregiver was seated next to my wife, and they served her in excess of five alcoholic drinks. My wife an RN went back to the to the FA’s and they said it wasn’t their responsibility to monitor this. Actually, it is. They said she (my wife) should have been doing it until my wife pointed out they had sat the people next to her and that she wasn’t traveling with them. Then the drunk lady in the wheelchair got stuck in the bathroom and were telling my wife to get the lady out, finally a flight attendant from First Class came back and got the lady out of the bathroom. All the time, this passenger was wailing and carrying on. It was quite the ordeal.
But the good news is that it at least serves to wake them from their hunger induced stupor ! …lol