Hawaiian Airlines markets itself as Hawaii’s premium leisure airline. Thanks to Hawaii’s secluded location, much of the airline’s operations require a hop across the Pacific, mainly with its Airbus A321neo and Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Soon, however, the airline will also take on Boeing 787s. Now, in 2020, here are the oldest aircraft in Hawaiian’s fleet.
Hawaiian’s fleet
First off, Hawaiian’s fleet is pretty impressive. For one, the airline has a very simple fleet. According to the carrier’s latest quarterly filing, the airline has 61 aircraft in its fleet comprised of 24 Airbus A330-200s, 18 Airbus A321neos, and 19 Boeing 717-200s.
Hawaiian also has 10 Boeing 787s on order. In addition, the airline also has ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500 turboprops, which fly for ‘Ohana by Hawaiian, the airline’s regional subsidiary. For this article, we are going to focus on the mainline jet aircraft.
According to data from Planespotters.net, Hawaiian’s fleet is an average of only 9.2 years old – quite young. For comparison, Delta’s fleet is about 14 years old on average.
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The oldest planes are the Boeing 717s
Unsurprisingly, the oldest aircraft in Hawaiian’s network are the Boeing 717-200s. These planes went out of production back in 2006. There are very few 717s in service compared to other major aircraft like the Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s. The top 19 oldest aircraft in Hawaiian’s fleet are all 717s. In order, here are the oldest 717s in the fleet:
- N488HA
- N489HA
- N490HA
- N475HA
- N476HA
- N477HA
- N478HA
- N479HA
- N480HA
- N483HA
- N484HA
- N485HA
- N486HA
- N487HA
- N491HA
- N492HA
- N492HA
- N493HA
- N495HA
Not all of these aircraft have flown with Hawaiian since the start of their service life. For example, Planespotters.net shows that N488HA, the oldest 717 in Hawaiian’s fleet (and thereby the oldest plane in Hawaiian’s fleet), spent about seven years over in Australia operating under carriers like QantasLink and Jetstar before heading over to Hawaiian Airlines at the end of 2008.
The 717s range from being 15-22 years old. N488HA and N489HA are about 22 years old. The next oldest aircraft are all about 19-20 years old. The youngest Boeing 717s are only about 15-16 years old.
The Boeing 717s are Hawaiian’s short-haul workhorse for inter-island flights. The aircraft type flies primary out of Honolulu to Hilo (ITO), Kailua-Kona (KOA), Lihu’e (LIH), Kahului (OGG), and more. The jet also does nonstop inter-island service between other destinations in Hawaii, like between Lihu’e and Kahului (Maui).
In the middle of this decade, Hawaiian will need to replace the 717s, or else deal with pretty expensive maintenance and fuel bills. The Airbus A220 could be a viable option.
What are the next oldest planes?
Next up, in order of the oldest aircraft in Hawaiian’s fleet, is the entire fleet of the airline’s Airbus A330-200. There are 24 A330-200s in the airline’s fleet. From oldest to youngest, they are:
- N380HA
- N381HA
- N382HA
- N383HA
- N384HA
- N385HA
- N386HA
- N388HA
- N389HA
- N390HA
- N391HA
- N392HA
- N393HA
- N395HA
- N396HA
- N399HA
- N370HA
- N373HA
- N374HA
- N375HA
- N378HA
- N379HA
- N360HA
- N361HA
The oldest A330-200s are only ten years old. These were all delivered new to Hawaiian and have not flown for any other airline. The youngest, N361HA, is only three years old. As far as aircraft go, these are pretty young.
The A330-200s perform a bulk of the airline’s operations. They do the transpacific hops to significant destinations like Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco,
What about the A321neos?
The youngest jets in Hawaiian’s fleet are all Airbus A321neos. The first of these were only delivered about three years ago, just after the final A330-200 delivery. The newest A321neo in Hawaiian’s fleet arrived in the second quarter of 2020, making it only a few months old.
What is the oldest Hawaiian Airlines plane you’ve flown on? Let us know in the comments!