Hello from Los Angeles, as I’m on the return portion of our winter ski trip to Niseko. After flying All Nippon Airways’ A380 first class, I flew Hawaiian Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 first class, on the 4hr55min flight from Honolulu (HNL) to Los Angeles (LAX).
This is yet another product that has been near the top of my list of airlines to review, so I’m happy I had the opportunity to experience this. For what it’s worth, I booked my ticket with cash, and paid around $800.
Hawaiian’s 787 first class is a fabulous experience, with comfortable suites, Hawaiian flair, friendly service, and above average food and drinks. In this post I want to share some initial impressions of the experience, and then soon I’ll have a full review.
In this post:
Hawaiian’s 787 first class suites are stylish & comfortable
Hawaiian’s 787 first class cabin consists of 34 seats, spread across nine rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration. There’s probably some confusion about the first class vs. business class branding here. For all practical purposes, this is like an international business class product, but since Hawaiian currently flies these planes on domestic routes, the product is marketed as first class.
Hawaiian has installed the Adient Ascent product in business class on its Dreamliners. Qatar Airways was the launch customer for this product, with Hawaiian being the second airline to get these suites. You can expect American to have these seats on its newly delivered 787s as well.
How gorgeous is this cabin?! 
Along the windows, this is a reverse herringbone product, with suites facing the windows.
Meanwhile in the center section, these are herringbone seats, so they face the aisles. Note that the Adient Ascent product offers lots of customizability options, so an airline could also elect to have reverse herringbone seats in the center.
This is simply a massive upgrade compared to Hawaiian’s old premium product. What a treat to see a cabin like this on Hawaiian, as this is easily one of the best premium products you’ll find on any US airline.
Beyond the generic qualities of these seats, I adore the cabin finishes, and I think this might just be the most beautiful cabin offered by any US airline. Just look at the fun wood paneling by the galleys, plus the stars on the ceiling.
Hawaiian’s first class food & service are great
Admittedly on flights within the United States, you’re not going to get a food and drink selection equivalent to what you’d get on a long haul flight on a foreign carrier. That being said, Hawaiian offers an impressive soft product, with above average food and drinks. In particular, I love the extent to which the airline integrates parts of Hawaii into the service.
For example, as a pre-departure drink, I enjoyed a mai tai.
After takeoff, I had an Old Fashioned, served with macadamia nuts.
Lunch was served on this flight, and there were two meal choices. I opted for the garlic mushroom and vegetable yakisoba with cucumber kim chee, which had a surprising kick to it. This came with a starter of smoked mushroom dip with toasted points, and a taro roll. Yum.
Dessert consisted of a decadent mango mousse souffle crunch.
On this flight I had a Honolulu-based crew, and they were lovely, and exhibited the aloha spirit. There’s simply no denying that Hawaiian does a phenomenal job integrating its local culture into the passenger experience. In this case I was just transiting through Honolulu, but my gosh, I’m borderline depressed that I couldn’t stay in Hawaii this time. It’s such a special place.
Hawaiian’s 787 first class entertainment is fine (for now)
Hawaiian Airlines offers seat back entertainment on its 787s, with each first class seat having an 18″ high definition monitor. The airline offers a reasonable selection of entertainment, with around 50 movies and around 60 different TV shows (some with multiple episodes).
Seat back entertainment is still a pretty new concept for the airline, as it’s not something that has historically been offered. The interface as such is great, and I also appreciate the bluetooth audio.
For now, Hawaiian doesn’t offer Wi-Fi on its 787s. However, that’s not due to lack of trying. Hawaiian is leading the US airline industry by installing Starlink Wi-Fi, and that’s now available on A330s and A321neos. The plan is also to offer this on 787s, though the plane’s composite fuselage makes the installation complicated, which is why this is delayed a bit. Once Hawaiian offers free Starlink Wi-Fi on its 787s, that’ll be a game changer.
Let’s see what the future holds for Hawaiian’s 787s
It goes without saying that it’s an interesting time for Hawaiian, as the airline is now part of Alaska Air Group. Hawaiian is only very gradually taking delivery of its 787s — the airline already has two in its fleet, with another 10 on order.
For now, Hawaiian is flying these 787s within the United States, though one wonders what the long term plan will be. We know that Alaska is building up Seattle as a long haul gateway, with the first route being to Tokyo Narita (NRT). However, for now that expansion is happening with A330s, rather than 787s.
Will the 787s stay in Hawaiian’s fleet long term, or will they eventually fly for Alaska? Alaska Air Group plans to maintain two distinct brands, so it seems the planes will have to be dedicated to one carrier or the other. I’m curious to see how that situation evolves over the coming years.
Bottom line
Hawaiian offers an excellent experience in first class on its 787s. The new seats are among the best seats you’ll find on any US airline, so with these Dreamliners, Hawaiian has really made a quantum leap with its passenger experience.
Hawaiian’s soft product is nice as well, with friendly service, good food and drinks, and some Hawaiian flair. This is arguably the most enjoyable way to fly between the mainland and Hawaii, so I highly recommend this experience. Now I’m curious to see how the Dreamliner strategy evolves over time, given that Hawaiian is part of Alaska Air Group.
What’s your take on Hawaiian’s 787 first class?
See this would be a very competitive product on the SEA longhaul launch.
But instead AS has chosen to use the dated HA A330s with a 2-2-2 config and a J cabin that's half the size of these 787s. I just don't see how it will be successful.
On top of that it'll create a bad PR and representation of their product on these mainland US routes to Asia.
I don’t know how you can say Hawaiian’s food and drinks are above average. Their wine is worse than Delta’s wine, which you have recently criticized. And they don’t offer a lot of food options. I don’t believe they have an extensive pre-ordering option either.
Not everyone is an alcoholic. Food is actual substance, nutrients, and calories, the HA food is pretty solid, not necessarily better though.
Wine and spirits don't matter to a lot of people. HA anyways has fun themed cocktails for Hawaii, Delta used to and axed them.
I questioned an AS supply chain employee about the A330s and they said will be reconfigured to 1-2-1, but will obviously take a couple years. This would indicate they plan on keeping both wide body types.
The first class cabin looks wonderful! Looking forward to the full review. I have heard nothing but great things about Hawaiian's Dreamliners.
Won’t herringbone style seats have a shorter bed length than reverse herringbone seats in the same footprint? The space occupied by the entrance can be used for bed length if it were reversed herringbone.
Wow, color me impressed. I had been planning to fly “domestic Delta One” to Hawaii but I would likely take this over the 767. Good stuff.