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Date | Airline | Flight | Type | Regn | Routing | Time | Miles | Remarks | |
| Back | 04 Feb 25 | HA | 35 | 787-9 | N780HA | PHX-HNL | 06:29 | 3051 mi | Next |
N780HA at PHX prior to my flight to Honolulu:
Hawaiian Air have been operating their new 787-9 Dreamliner on the Phoenix service since mid-2024 after entry into service. A short break occured with A330 returning to PHX but 787 soon resumed PHX flights. That will change in mid-April 2025 when the A330 comes back. HA currently have two 787s that alternate on a daily basis HNL-PHX-HNL and HNL-LAX-HNL. 780 operates one day, then 781, then 780, then 781 etc etc.
I've been wanting to fly the 787 on this route since the beginning and this month I finally made it happen. It was a very last-minute booking on the Monday night before the Tuesday morning flight. I used nearly all my remaining Alaska miles (15,000 for this one-way flight) and I feel it is reasonable value across the Alaska / Hawaiian route network. I had to verify on the HA website there was a suitable window seat available while booking the flight on the AS website. I couldn't pay for the seat online...I had to phone HA directly and speak to a rep for assistance. Additionally, I couldn't check-in online or via the HA App at the moment...that would have to wait until the ticket counter at PHX.
Time was ticking until I'd be leaving for the airport. I made a parking lot reservation for my car, packed the gear for the trip, and tried to get a short nap. Up just before 2am for a shower and then drive to the airport Parking Spot lot. Shuttle to T3 and now just wait until the ticket counter opened at 5:30am to check in. I got a little restless so I went up on top of T3 parking garage to see what planes were parked. Some United and Frontier over-nighters plus the Hawaiian Air 787, parked at the usual corner gate.
Back in the main terminal I was just sitting around waiting for the ticket counter to open. Being so early, little activity was happening but people were starting to show up. Alaska has several flights departing prior to the Hawaiian Air at 0720 and some early-birds were filtering in. I got the idea to try checking in on the HA App once again and...bingo! I had my electronic boarding pass! Made my way to TSA and got through with little effort...no queue involved. I did have to send my napsack through a second time when the chocolate needed additional hand inspection and a trip through X-ray again. Really??
Safely airside now I could relax. I'd never been to the airport without a boarding pass in hand so I was over that hurdle now. I wandered down to the Frontier gates to get a closer look at those guys and a couple of Deltas...then over to the northside where my gate was. I snapped a couple of Alaska planes and my Hawaiian Air 787. I was tracking the inbound Alaska flight from Anchorage and when it arrived I got a little phone video of it arriving at the gate. By this time the north concourse was filling up with United, Alaska, and Hawaiian passengers ready to board their flights to destinations across the USA. Lucky us!!
Before too long it was nearly time to board so I found a spot at gate E8. A couple hundred Hawaii-bound travellers were milling about anxious to get this party started. In due course I was heading down the jet bridge and greeted the cabin crew in the doorway. I found my seat 36J, snapped a couple of quick photos, and settled into my seat. Dawn was already breaking and I started taking snapshots out the relatively large 787 window. This would be my 10th flight aboard a Dreamliner and my fifth airline: United, American, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore, and now Hawaiian.
Right on time, we started to push back from the gate. Happily, the middle seat between me and the aisle seat remained vacant. Through conversation I learned the fella on the aisle was connecting to Philippine Airlines at Honlulu. I offered up what I was doing on the flight and he was bemused by specific purpose for the trip: to fly on this Dreamliner.
I'd seen a wing walker on the ramp and kind of assumed it was for the Alaska 737 parked next to us. I was kind of taken aback when it was US that started to move backwards! I was quite tired as it was so no surprise it caught me a little off guard. The seat-back display started playing the safety video so I recorded it with my phone. I also started getting my camera ready to record the taxi and takeoff.
Snack onboard:
Below is Flight Aware screenshot of this flight from PHX to HNL:
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