Background
This series covers a recent trip down to Oahu. The return was booked on HA, which I have never flown on before on a mainland service. We booked into SJC since it was 3x cheaper than flying into SFO. SJC is served by HA 1x daily from HNL and OGG using their A321neo fleet, so a much smaller market share than the primary Bay Area airports (SFO, OAK, SMF).
Routing
Flight routing
- 1
- 2HA92 - Economy - Honolulu → San Jose - Airbus A321neo
Check-in/Security
We arrived at HNL T1, which is exclusively used by HA for all non-Japan flights, about 2 hours before departure.
Online check-in failed and told us to see an agent so we found a small desk that was manned and we were instantly check-in and handed our boarding passes and directed to the other end of the terminal to where the PreCheck lanes were.
FIDS with the Bay Area dominating the mainland market mid-day.
The TSA PreCheck lane is only at the 1B check-point. It took ~15 minutes to clear with long lines mid-day.
Since HA is the only operator from T1, there are only HA lounges available. The lower level Plumeria Lounge is part of Priority Pass so we had very low expectations of being admitted and the signage is very poor with only a small sign near some escalators by the Wiki-Wiki Shuttle.
Upstairs, you walk past the waiting zone for the Wiki-Wiki Shuttle to the far end.
No surprises, the lounge was at full capacity and there was already a long line of people waiting to enter. We turned headed back downstairs to grab some lunch since there was only 45 minutes until boarding was due to start.
The central part of T1 is old, with little food options.
Our plane was due to leave from Gate A5, which is in the newer extension.
Some plane spotting along the way, which will of course be limited to HA in T1. I didn't see any of the B787s, only several A332s ready to head to California.
Our plane today is N217HA, a 2018-built A321neo in a J16 Y173 configuration.
Boarding
Our plane had arrived late from SLC so we had an announcement at 12:33, that the last passengers deplaned and the cleaning crew was on-board. At 12:43, they said the crew was boarding and catering started. The fact the cleaning crew was on-board for less than 10 minutes will give some hint at the cleanliness of the plane. At 12:48, they started to process pre-boards since there was a fruit/vegetable inspection. Full boarding started at 12:53, about 25-minutes late. The whole process was very orderly and well communicated so no complaints and we boarded near the end.
The boarding process was slow, but the crew warmly welcomed us on-board in the forward galley.
HA's cabins feature Pinnacle seats and were nicely accented with small touches of pink/purple. They were comfortable enough for a 5h flight, which is pretty much what they operate on routes up and down the West Coast (other than the longer flight to SLC).
Seat pitch is 30" so not the best, but since the person in front did not recline, it was fine.
No in-seat IFEs, but there is a device holder and USB-A port.
The seatback pocket has a small mesh area for holding personal items, which is handy to segregate your items from the literature.
The literature contents are the safety card and airsickness bag.
I didn't get a magazine at my seat, but here is the current issue of hana hou!
HA route map, which hasn't been updated with AS integration.
Instructions on free Wi-Fi and streaming services.
All of our tray tables were dirty and covered with sticky substances. There was an empty Gatorade bottle and empty food clamshell under one seat so the cleaning was about as bad as I expected with the short turnaround. Since this is the norm for US carriers, we always bring our own wipes.
View of the cabin, with its VS-esque pink-purple mood lighting.
View from the window. The A332 on the left was heading to SFO, who we would follow across the Pacific.
After the A332 to SFO left, we pushed back.
The workhorses of HA, their fleet of intra-island B717s.
A look down T2's line-up.
We would take our spot in the queue behind a PR A333.
Reaching the Reef Runway.
We hold to let the PR A333 go barreling down the runway.
Our turn to align onto runway 8R.
We take off at 13:48, almost 40 minutes late.
We bank to the right to cross south of the city.
Always great views of Honolulu on departure.
Ala Wai Boat Harbor and the large Hilton complex.
Waikiki.
We loop around Diamond Head.
We exit through the Kaiwi Channel past Koko Head.
The route out of HNL.
Complimentary Wi-Fi is available immediately after take-off and is powered by Starlink. It was very fast and had a stable connection throughout the flight.
Streaming entertainment is available, but has to be connected from a different Wi-Fi gateway, which is a little bit tedious to switch between.
It also features a basic moving map feature, which cannot be manually controlled.
Meal service started about 1h after departure.
HA is a rare US carrier in that it still serves a complimentary hot "meal" on its mainland flights. The menus are listed online and offered on any flight that is not a redeye. They also have a BOB menu that can supplement this offering.
The cart came down offering what the flight attendant called a fancy version of a Hot Pocket. In addition to the complimentary food, there is also a very limited BOB offering if you need to supplement.
Drinks were then distributed and whole cans were provided.
The in-flight snack, which is pretty much no par with what you get as a second meal for long-haul.
With an afternoon flight, we were quickly flying into the sunset.
The lavatories are a lot bigger on the A321neo than on B737 MAXs and HA again has some nice design elements in their bathrooms with floral decorations on the counter and custom wall prints.
The cabin was kept in darkness outside of meal services.
About an hour before landing, they handed out cookies. There was no second drink service, but the crew had setup a drink station in the galley if you wanted anything mid-flight.
The cabin was prepared for landing as we approached the California coast.
Our approach into SJC.
South Bay as we make our alignments to approach SJC from the south.
Dropping down into SJC over the city.
We had a smooth landing on runway 30L at 20:36 and just a minute later were at our gate at the end of Terminal A. Our twin was next door having arrived from OGG earlier in the evening. The planes will rotate in the morning with ours headed to OGG and the plane from OGG headed to HNL.
A last look at the cabin on deplaning.
Having arrived at Gate 4, it was a long walk back to the center of the terminal and then across the road to the baggage claim area.
It was a ~10 minute wait for bags, then we were quickly off to head home.
I'll conclude this series here, thanks for stopping by!
Flight Information
Hawaiian Airlines, HA92
Equipment: Airbus A321neo [N217HA, delivered November 2018]
Departure: 13:10 (ATD: 13:48)
Arrival: 20:25 (ATA: 20:36)
Flight time: 4:48
