Hawaiian Airlines marks 82 years of service
MANILA, Philippines - Hawaiian Airlines, the pioneering carrier of the Pacific and one of the longest-serving commercial carriers in the United States, marks its 82nd anniversary of providing continuous, top-quality air transportation service to Hawaii’s residents and visitors.
The airline traces its beginnings to Nov. 11, 1929, as Inter-Island Airways introduced scheduled air services between the Hawaiian islands using two Sikorsky S-38 amphibian biplanes that had a carrying capacity of eight passengers and two crewmembers. The company carried 10,000 passengers on its first year. In 1941, Inter-Island Airways was renamed Hawaiian Airlines.
Today, HA competes successfully with the world’s largest carriers and ranks at the top of the airline industry for reliability and service quality. It operates a growing fleet of 36 aircraft to an expanding route structure that spans the Pacific with a workforce of more than 4,200.
Hawaiian carried 8.4 million passengers and 68 million pounds of cargo in 2010 and is poised to set new company records in 2011. Within Hawaii, the company operates approximately 150 flights daily between the islands of the state, carrying more than 5 million passengers and 8 million pounds of cargo annually.
Over the past year, Hawaiian launched new international flights to Honolulu from Tokyo, Seoul, and Osaka, which collectively added more than 250,000 air seats to Hawaii’s tourism industry and will generate a Hawaii Tourism Authority-estimated $350 million in visitor spending and $383 million in tax revenue annually.
Additional growth is coming next year, with four new long-range Airbus A330 aircraft arriving in the first half of 2012 and additional new services to be announced.
