HONOLULU, Nov. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawaiian
Airlines, one of the nation's longest-serving carriers, today
celebrated its 88th anniversary at a dedication ceremony
for the new Charles I. Elliott Maintenance and Cargo Facility,
named in honor of the man who piloted the company's maiden flight
from Honolulu to Hilo on this day in 1929. The 21-acre site
includes a 95,800 square-foot aircraft hangar that can accommodate
up to five Boeing 717 aircraft at the same time, indoor maintenance
and cargo operations, a two-level office building and 143-stall
parking lot.
Hawaiian's previous open-air maintenance hangar and cargo
facilities have been in use since 1962, when what is now
Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye
International Airport (HNL) was first built. Following more than
half a century of operations in the now outgrown and outdated
facilities, the next chapter of the airline's history began this
week as employees started moving in to the new building.
"It is fitting that we name our new maintenance and cargo
facility after the man who laid the foundation stone of the
airline's first hangar, and then led our flight and maintenance
operations at the very start of Hawaiian Airlines, 88 years ago
today," said Mark Dunkerley,
president and chief executive officer. "Over nearly nine decades,
we have evolved from a two-airplane operator flying between the
islands into a world-class carrier with more than 50 aircraft and
30 local, mainland and international destinations served. This
hangar opening marks a new chapter for Hawaiian Airlines of growth,
local employment and further economic contributions to our
community."
Capt. Charles Irving "Sam" Elliott also served as Director of
Operations at Inter-Island Airways and his first job at the airline
was as inspector of Hangar No. 1. When the company dug the hole for
the foundation, he ensured it was deep enough to hit solid coral,
inspected the steel work, and hammered the first rivets. Soon
after, he piloted the first scheduled flight: a one hour and
40-minute flight on a Sikorsky S-38 amphibious aircraft from
Honolulu to Hilo on the Island of Hawaii, via Kahului, Maui.
Capt. Elliott was an aviation pioneer and a man of many firsts,
having also flown the first inter-island air mail flight on
Oct. 8, 1934. The following year, he
took delivery of the first Sikorsky S-43 ever built and flew it
cross-country from Bridgeport,
Conn, to San Francisco,
from where it was shipped on a Matson freighter to Hawai'i. He was
at the controls for the S-43's inaugural inter-island flight in
December 1935, and he later became
the first Hawaiian pilot to fly a Douglas DC-3. He retired in 1951
after 22 years of service.
Today, the Charles I. Elliott Maintenance and Cargo Facility is
a state-of-the-art, 281,000 square-foot space that will house more
than 1,100 employees from cargo, maintenance, engineering, supply,
fleet service, claims, and safety and security.
HAL, The Hawaiian Airlines Time
Capsule
To preserve its past as it looks toward the future, Hawaiian also
marked today's special occasion by enshrining "HAL," a Hawaiian
Airlines Time Capsule, beneath a stairwell in the new facility. A
miniaturized reproduction of an LD3 cargo container, HAL was
imagined by Hawaiian's Archivist, Capt. Rick Rogers. Capt. Rogers joined Hawaiian in
1987 as a De Havilland Dash 7 pilot and went on to fly the Douglas
DC-8 and DC-9 aircraft, then the Boeing 717s and 767s before
leaving the cockpit in 2010 to launch and manage an archive rich
with 88 years of memorabilia.
HAL encases historical documents, publications, plaques and
awards, posters and photographs along with a complete digital copy
of the airline's archives, including approximately 100 oral history
interviews gathered over the past few years. Throughout 2017, the
Time Capsule made appearances in the airline's break rooms and
Premier Club lounges across Hawai'i, the State Capitol, and the
U.S. Senate building in Washington
D.C. The intent is to re-open HAL on Nov. 11, 2079, the airline's 150th Anniversary.
Hawaiian currently operates a fleet of 24 Airbus A330s, 20
Boeing 717s and eight Boeing 767s. It also provides turbo-prop
flights using three ATR-42 aircraft via its 'Ohana by Hawaiian
service, which will soon commence an all-cargo operation via ATR-72
aircraft. The airline last month took delivery of the first of its
18 new A321neo aircraft that will start service in early 2018,
expanding flight offerings between the U.S. West Coast and Neighbor
Islands.
The Charles I. Elliott Cargo and Maintenance Facility and the
A321neo aircraft are the next steps in a series of major
investments Hawaiian has made in recent years to aircraft cabins,
lounges, and other aspects of the customer experience to elevate
the carrier's position as the preferred airline for travelers
flying to and within Hawai'i for the next century to
come.
About Hawaiian
Airlines
Hawaiian®, the world's most punctual airline as reported by OAG,
has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the
past 13 years (2004-2016) as reported by the U.S. Department of
Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler and
Travel + Leisure have ranked Hawaiian the highest of all domestic
airlines serving
Hawai'i.
Now in its 89th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is
Hawai'i's biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the
largest provider of passenger air service from its primary visitor
markets on the U.S. Mainland.
Hawaiian offers non-stop service to Hawai'i from more U.S.
gateway cities (11) than any other airline, along with service from
Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, New
Zealand, American Samoa and
Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides approximately 170 jet flights daily
between the Hawaiian Islands, with a total of more than 250 daily
flights system-wide.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings,
Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at
HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow updates on Twitter about Hawaiian
(@HawaiianAir) and its special fare offers (@HawaiianFares), and
become a fan on its Facebook page. For career postings and
updates, follow Hawaiian's LinkedIn page.
For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines' online
newsroom.
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hawaiian-airlines-commemorates-88-years-of-service-dedicates-charles-i-elliott-maintenance-and-cargo-facility-300554259.html
SOURCE Hawaiian Airlines