The airline operates flights to Asia, American Samoa, Australia, French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Alaska, Canada, and the Contiguous United States.

[10][11][12][13] On December 3, 2023, Alaska Air Group announced that it planned to purchase Hawaiian Airlines, pending regulatory approval.

[18][19] Scheduled service began a month later on November 11 using Sikorsky S-38s with a flight from Honolulu to Hilo, via intermediary stops on Molokaʻi and Maui.

[24] Hawaiian Airlines started to offer jet service in 1966 with the acquisition of Douglas DC-9-10 aircraft, which cut travel times in half on most of its routes.

[29][30][31] Hawaiian Airlines began to expand its footprint throughout the 1980s, as the result of intense competition on inter-island routes created by the entrance of Mid Pacific Air into the market.

Despite the early successes of this new business, Hawaiian was forced to curtail its charter services when the Federal Government banned all DC-8 and B707 aircraft without hush kits from operating within the US.

[32][33] Heading into the 1990s, Hawaiian Airlines faced financial difficulties, racking up millions of dollars in losses throughout the previous three years.

The airline continued its normal operations, and at the time was overdue for $4.5 million worth of payments to the pilots' pension plan.

The company emerged from bankruptcy protection on June 2, 2005, with reduced operating costs through renegotiated contracts with its union work groups; restructured aircraft leases; and investment from RC Aviation, a unit of San Diego–based Ranch Capital, which bought a majority share in parent company Hawaiian Holdings Inc in 2004.

On September 28, 2005, Hawaiian Airlines began nonstop daily flights from Honolulu to San Jose, California.

[44] On February 16, 2010, Hawaiian Airlines sought approval from the United States Department of Transportation to begin nonstop flights from its hub at Honolulu to Tokyo-Haneda sometime in 2010.

[51] On June 4, 2012, Hawaiian expanded to the east coast with daily flights to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

[58] On March 12, 2014, Hawaiian announced that it would begin daily service between Kahului and Los Angeles on May 2, adding a second flight from June 30 to September 8 in response to passenger demand.

[60] On January 5, 2015, Hawaiian refiled its previously rejected application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the Kona-Haneda route with service, if approved, to begin in June.

[63] On March 6, 2018, the airline announced an order for 10 Boeing 787–9 Dreamliners with options for an additional ten; selecting GE GEnx engines.

[66] Fourteen-day travel quarantines, which were reinstated for August 2020[67] have also contributed to Hawaiian Airlines' plans to downsize the company by 15–25% by summer 2021.

[70] On April 25, 2022, Hawaiian Airlines announced they will become the first major air carrier to offer the SpaceX Starlink service on all Transpacific flights.

These suites offer a space with fully lie-flat seating, an 18-inch in-flight entertainment screen, personal outlets, wireless charging, and direct aisle access.

[74] Airline industry analysts had promoted the merger for years which would create a combined carrier focused on the western United States.

[75][76][77] The merger would provide Alaska, which is primarily a domestic carrier with narrowbody aircraft, with Hawaiian's widebody jets, pilots, and international networks.

[86] On August 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice completed its regulatory antitrust review of the proposed acquisition and declined to attempt to block the merger in court.

[16] On September 17, 2024, the regulator from the U.S. Department of Transportation approved the merger, with conditions including the one-to-one exchange rate for airline points, maintenance of "robust levels" of inter-island passenger and cargo flights, continued service to rural Hawaiian communities, the permission for children under the age of thirteen to sit next to accompanying adults regardless of their tickets, as well as lowered costs for military members and their families.

[87] Alaska Airlines emphasized its experience operating an intra-Alaska network including service to 16 destinations not reachable by road while pledging to maintain a robust interisland schedule in Hawaii to neighbor islands.

[88] The Wall Street Journal speculated that consolidation would lead to higher prices for consumers on flights to Hawaii although this was disputed by the companies.

Josh Green (HI) promised that he and the attorney general Anne Lopez would monitor the merger "very closely" adding that both "are very high-quality companies, but ultimately, I will be watching to make sure all of our state's needs are met and all of our workers are cared for.

[48] It also has daily and weekly direct, nonstop international flights from Honolulu to Tahiti, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and New Zealand.

[125] On November 27, 2007, Hawaiian Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for 24 long-range jets priced at $4.4 billion.

[147] According to Hawaiian's then-CEO Mark Dunkerley: "In today's competitive world you cannot justify providing complimentary meals on a traditional business model.

"[147]Starting December 1, 2017, guests in the main cabin on Hawaiian flights between Hawaiʻi and western U.S. gateway cities will be treated to complimentary meal service exclusively created for the airline's new Pau Hāna Café brand.

The Pau Hāna Café, named after the Hawaiian term for "finished work", is a branded continental breakfast box for brunch and a hot sandwich and side for lunch.