Last month Hawaiian Airlines made an announcement I totally spaced on. According to the press release, Hawaiian Airlines is optimizing its long haul fleet. In fact, big changes are coming, the first of which we’ll see within the next year or so.
Currently, Hawaiian Air’s fleet is comprised of a mix of wide-body aircraft only. The mainstay of Hawaiian’s current fleet are its 23 Airbus A330-200s, which are complemented by its fleet of 8 Boeing 767-300 series aircraft. For years now, Hawaiian has been phasing out its flee of older, less efficient 767s. But now, retirement of the 767s will be accelerated, with the last one leaving the fleet by the end of 2018.
While the 767s are being retired, they aren’t exactly being replaced one-for-one. Rather, Hawaiian will be replacing them with 16 new A321neos. Actually, to accelerate the 767s retirement, Hawaiian ordered an additional two A321neos for delivery at the end of 2017. Included in this order is an additional A330-200, too. This bring’s Hawaiian’s future long-haul fleet numbers to 24 A330-200s and 18 A321neos. That’s 42 long-haul aircraft, the most Hawaiian has ever had in its entire history.
Hawaiian’s fleet of 767s currently serves thinner markets, such as Honolulu to Pago Pago, American Samoa, or Honolulu to Sacramento. It would be safe to assume, then, that the A321s will be used on some of these routes. How exactly this will work, though, remains to be seen. The 767s currently seat 252 to 264 passengers, while the A321s will seat just 189. This is a significant reduction in the number of seats.
I think the more likely scenario, in this case, would be the down-gauging of some of Hawaiian’s more popular A330 routes. This would allow the airline, assuming more slots are available, to increase frequency on these routes. Personally, I’d love to see Hawaiian’s route to the Pacific Northwest down-gauged in favor of higher frequencies. Their one flight per day on these routes are timed for visitors, not the numerous Hawaii residents that frequent these routes too.
The A321s may also be used to explore additional routes to secondary routes on the U.S. Mainland and throughout the Pacific. This may be the case even more so once Hawaiian begins taking delivery of their A330-800neos. Slated for first delivery in 2019, Hawaiian’s 6 A330-800neos will give the airline the ability to fly even farther. Ultra-long-haul routes have been rumored, with cities like London being named.
What ultimately happens with Hawaiian’s new fleet remains to be seen. What routes which aircraft will appear on is anyone’s best guess today. I think it’s safe to assume, however, that you’ll see many of their narrow bodies on West Coast to Hawaii routes.