Hawaiian Airlines saw a surge in bookings recently. The increased traffic on the website, however, led to some tech issues that affected various systems. Passengers reported various issues ranging from difficulties logging into their account and using travel credits to being unable to get in touch with a representative.
Hawaiian Airlines systems take a hit
Hawaii News Now reports that Hawaiian Airlines has faced issues over the last week with its website. Customers have had issues getting into their accounts on digital channels to use travel credits or access their miles. This technical issue had further ramifications.
The website outages prompted passengers to call Hawaiian Airlines. This then led to a surge in calls, which burdened the call center. As a result, passengers had to face long wait times.
Hawaiian Airlines is working on the issues. There was no immediate timeline available, but it will take some time for the issues to be finally resolved.
What was the reason?
Hawaiian Airlines attributed the outages to a surge in bookings. The technological systems could not handle the increase in the volume of passengers booking new travel or else using credits to rebook travel.
As vaccinations have continued to roll out, passengers are showing a willingness to get back onboard aircraft and travel. Coupled with the fact that 2021 is the first summer since 2019, Hawaii is open for tourists, leading to significant demand for travel to the state.
Leisure travel is coming back stronger than business travel. As a result, destinations like Hawaii are seeing more attention from travelers. Airlines have thus responded with more capacity. Hawaiian Airlines has added new routes out of Hawaii for the summer and upgauged other routes to capture the higher demand for travel to Hawaii.
However, the increase in demand is proving to be more than airlines had expected. As a result, some electronic infrastructure, like websites and mobile apps, is taking a hit.
Hawaiian Airlines offers a few different ways to contact the airline. All of the methods can be found here. One of the most well-known ways is to give the airline a call. If you have time, calling the general helpline is an option. If that ends up taking a while, you can also try to contact a Hawaiian Airlines helpline in another location. Note that there may be language barriers to booking in other cases.
Hawaiian Airlines does have a live chat function on the website. However, that is currently closed. Passengers should check back later to see if Hawaiian has reopened the chat function.
For those who prefer to write out their requests, there is an option to text the airline. Note that standard data fees and text messaging rates may apply. The next option is to email the airline.
Lastly, Hawaiian Airlines does take written contacts. However, this is definitely your slowest option for contacting the airline.
If you are traveling with Hawaiian Airlines in the coming days, you may face some tech issues. The best option is to be as patient as possible. If you need to check in and it is not working online, you can do so at the airport, but make sure you leave plenty of time at the airport.
Have you faced issues from Hawaiian Airlines’ outages due to increased demand? Let us know in the comments!
