Travelgal on the move

Celebrating punctuality, birthdays and the joy of a good scone.

Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiʻi’s hometown carrier for more than 90 years, remained the nation’s most punctual carrier in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, marking the 16th straight year its guests have enjoyed the best on-time performance in the U.S. industry.

Hawaiian’s flights averaged an 87.7 percent on-time rate in 2019, exceeding the U.S. industry average by 6.1 percentage points.

“Our more than 7,400 employees know how important it is for our guests to be on time, whether they are starting a family vacation in Hawaiʻi, or traveling between our islands for business or to visit their ʻohana, and I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishment,” said Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. “We recently observed our 90^th anniversary and this ‘Sweet 16’ is definitely another achievement worth celebrating.”

Recently I had the good fortune to be on the island of Oahu, yes, I departed Sydney on time and arrived in Honolulu on time too. I was staying on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii for a little holiday and lo and behold there was a celebration happening at the same time. From previous posts you may remember that I have history with the airline and had written some flight reviews for Hawaiian Airlines after flying from Sydney to Los Angeles and this year from Sydney to Long Beach. https://travelgaltravels.com/2019/08/13/hawaiian-airlines-review

Hawaiian Airlines was celebrating a mighty 90-year anniverary of being in service. There were many events and I was invited along to watch burly staff members pull a plane . . .and after a ten second consideration decided that I would honour the event and the airline with my own special way of celebrating. But the details before my own shindig.

Aloha! It was 90-years to the day since two Sikorsky S-38 amphibian aircraft took off from Honolulu’s John Rodgers Airport, introducing the islands to commercial aviation, Hawaiian Airlines held festivities in the air and on the ground on 11 November 2019 (HST) to thank customers and the local community for their support through its evolution from pioneer inter-island carrier to global airline.

By the end of the day in Honolulu, the Hawaiian Airlines ohana (family) had even more reason to celebrate after its “OGG HCS Team Wide Body” took out the Grand Prize of the Great Hawaiian Plane Pull competition, outshining 67 other teams from across the Hawaiian community and corporate world. (OGG is the airport code for Kahului Airport on Maui.) Participants in the Great Hawaiian Plane Pull competition raised $33,000 for Hawaiian’s longtime environmental nonprofit partner, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.

AND  . . .

while these happy and worthy events were happening, we were seated on the verandah of the Moana Surfrider Hotel overlooking a sparkling Pacific Ocean and readying ourselves for the legendary high tea. YES, this is how I roll when an event is a monumental milestone. I raise my porcelin cup of tea and salute Hawaiian Airlines.

I quickly forgot the reason I was there and began the sweet shenanigans! There are many nice touches to the ‘tea’ and first off we were handed a bamboo fluted fan to keep our cool composure. A glass of sparkling wine followed and the food delivery began. As you can see by the menu, there was an exellent variety to choose from – we chose every morsel.

I had a moment of almost discontent when I saw the scones had blueberries in them and lemon curd had replaced the traditional jam to have with cream. Although going against tradition, I forgave Hawaii and took both scones for the team. Delicious and lemon curd? Who knew?

There is a kind of hush as guests come towards the end of the high tea. Crumbs are scattered on white linen tablecloths and the teired cake stand, stands alone, empty and now neglected. The elegant Chinese tea in the pot has been emptied and quiet murmurs of verbal smiles echo along the verandah.

Mission accomplished. And a very happy birthday to Hawaiian Airlines and many more to come!

You’re welcome.

Hawaii

hawaii