Hawaiian Airlines marks 85th anniversary
Hawaiian Airlines, the state’s largest carrier, celebrated its 85th anniversary Tuesday by handing out Wrigley’s Doublemint gum, along with a commemorative postcard and historic logo stickers, to more than 12,000 passengers on all of its neighbor island flights.
The airline’s first interisland passenger service was launched Nov. 11, 1929, as Inter-Island Airways, with a flight from Honolulu to Hilo that took an hour and 40 minutes. The company initially used two Sikorsky S-38 amphibian propeller planes that carried eight passengers and two crew members and had a top cruising speed of 110 mph. During the early days, the first inflight treat offered to passengers was a stick of Wrigley’s gum to relieve ear pressure. The company changed its name to Hawaiian Airlines in 1941.
"We’ve come a very long way since 1929, and being able to celebrate 85 years of continuous service is an exceptional achievement in itself for Hawaiian Airlines," President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Dunkerley said.
The airline, which now has more than 5,000 employees, has published a special commemorative book highlighting 85 years of its history and legacy which will be available for sale online at Shop.HawaiianAirlines.com in late November.
HawTel’s first undersea cable 50 years old
Hawaiian Telcom marked the 50th anniversary Tuesday of the first trans-Pacific undersea cable to connect Hawaii, Japan and the mainland. The cable is one of only two in the state and fewer than 200 worldwide. The Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Milestones, which recognizes significant technical innovations that benefit humanity, noted the achievement.
In 1964, Trans Pacific Cable 1 was inaugurated by President Lyndon Johnson and Japan’s Premier Hayato Ikeda. Hawaiian Telcom, then Hawaiian Telephone Co.; American Telephone and Telegraph; and Kokusai Denshin Denwa International of Japan partnered to build it, sharing the $83 million cost.
This historic engineering feat improved global communications and contributed to deep-water submarine cable technologies.
Other trans-Pacific cables were laid following TPC-1, but today modern technology allows new cable networks to bypass Hawaii.
