Hawaiian Will Launch the Longest Domestic Flight in the US
Hawaiian Airlines already had one of the longest domestic flights in the US with its nonstop service between New York (JFK) and Honolulu (HNL). Now, the airline has announced its launching a flight that goes even further --and that's all within the United States.
Hawaiian will begin flying between Boston Logan (BOS) and Honolulu on April 4, 2019, operating an Airbus A330-200 on the new route. The flight clocks in at nearly 5,100 miles each way — about 100 miles longer than its New York flight. It'll be the first nonstop flight between Boston and Hawaii, and it's the largest US market without nonstop service to the state.
The route will operate 5 times a week in both directions:
- HA89 Boston (BOS) 8:55am Departure → Honolulu (HNL) 2:35pm Arrival
- HA90 Honolulu (HNL) 1:45pm Departure → Boston (BOS) 6:00am (+1) Arrival
Boston to Honolulu is blocked for 11 hours and 40 minutes of flight time and the return is scheduled for 10 hours and 15 minutes in the air.
Hawaiian has two aircraft in its fleet that could handle such a distance, the wide-body A330-200 or Boeing 767. The carrier went with its newer A330 that holds 278 passengers in a two-class configuration. There are 18 lie-flat first class seats laid out in a 2-2-2 formation.
In the back of the cabin, you'll find 260 coach class seats (68 are extra legroom "economy comfort" seats) laid out in a 2-4-2 formation.
TPG review's editor Nick Ellis flew both products on the nonstop between JFK and HNL and enjoyed each experience, but said you likely won't be wowed in economy. Both flights received high marks for friendly and attentive crew members.
Hawaii's CEO Peter Ingram told the Boston Globe that prices won't be much higher than competitors even though it's the only nonstop option — that's because its catering to leisure travelers and not business people with an expense account. The airline is celebrating the new route with promotional fares for $617 round-trip prices in coach and $1776 in business, both of which appeared to be available after searching on Google Flights.
Ingram said the airline's success on the JFK route led to them setting up shop in Boston.
"That was the time we got serious about expanding into the eastern part of the US," said Ingram. "We see Boston as a terrific opportunity. We're also encouraged by all the growth in long-haul and international services in Boston in recent years. It gives us the confidence about the market . . . to have the opportunity to grow."
Hawaiian is a partner with JetBlue, so you can use TrueBlue points on the carrier. The redemption values vary from 1 to 2 cents per TrueBlue point — which usually has a fixed value of about 1.3-1.4 cents each.
Hawaiian's mileage program is also a transfer partner of the American Express Membership Rewards, although you likely won't get the most value out of your points with the carrier.