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It is not often that you see a massive exodus of planes from a certain location.
In the first hours after the Super Bowl ends, a large number of private jets are generally seen leaving the airport closest to the stadium. When the coronavirus caused demand for air travel to drop, airlines shipped their planes en masse to storage hangers across the Southwest.
And when a hurricane is about to hit its main hub, Hawaiian Airlines wisely sent most of its planes out of harm’s way.
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If you’ve been engulfed in coronavirus coverage, you may have missed the forecast that Hurricane Douglas will traverse the Hawaiian Islands with wind speeds that are currently 90 mph. The National Hurricane Center predicts damaging winds, rain floods, and dangerously high waves for much of the state of Aloha.
The Category 2 hurricane is expected to make landfall around the night of July 26 and is likely to cause damage to areas within its path.
And that road is dangerously close to Hawaii’s main hub, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu. So in preparation, Hawaiian moved 54 of its 62 planes out of harm’s way.
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A Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717. (Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines)
The airline operates three different types of aircraft: the Airbus A321, Airbus A330, and Boeing 717. These aircraft could easily be damaged during the hurricane, especially since Hawaiian does not have enough interior hangar space for its entire fleet.
Related: 5 Reasons To Fly Hawaiian Airlines To Hawaii
Additionally, according to Vice President of Flight Operations Bob Johnson, hangars can only withstand winds of up to 130 mph. Although Hurricane Douglas is not as strong, moving the fleet is a necessary precautionary measure.
The Boeing 717 is the inter-island workhorse for Hawaii. Johnson mentioned that these single-aisle jets would be stored in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, as projections show that it should be the most protected from the storm.
In addition, the airport has “large runways, large taxiways, and may contain many aircraft, so our decision was considered,” Johnson told Hawaiian media outlet KITV. Also, flying nonstop to the mainland would be right at the top end of the Boeing 717’s range.
The Airbus A321 and A330 are aircraft that fly primarily on the airline’s international and continental routes. They have the range to easily get to dry land, and that’s exactly where Hawaiian sent them.
Related: What will Hawaiian fly between the islands after 717 retires?
Both fleets are currently spread across the west coast. Airbus A321s are in Oakland, Portland and Sacramento. Airbus A330s are installed in Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, and San Francisco. Two A321s and six A330s were still in Honolulu as of press time and are likely locked in hangars there.
The “crazy race” off the island has also caused Hawaii to fly an interesting route. After an A330 flew from Honolulu to Seoul on Friday, the airline clearly did not want the plane to return to danger. So instead of having the plane in South Korea or returning to Hawaii, Hawaiian sent the plane nonstop to Los Angeles. Next was Hawaiian Flight 1330 en route from Seoul to LAX, a rather interesting and unusual route for the airline.
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Screenshot courtesy of FlightAware
This is the first time since 1992 that Hawaiian Airlines has moved its planes from O’ahu. Twenty-eight years ago, Hurricane Iniki, a Category 4 storm, became the most powerful hurricane to hit the state of Hawaii, and the airline took its aircraft out of harm’s way. And now, as if 2020 could not get worse, the airline must do it again.
Featured photo courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines
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