Hawaiian Airlines safety video stars employees, families

The typical safety presentation on an airline involves a flight attendant showing you how to buckle your seat belt while a disembodied recording reminds you to keep it buckled while seated, and other, similar demonstrations.

The new Hawaiian Airlines safety video is way bigger-budget-looking than that.

While the cost was not disclosed, and actors were not hired, the new video shows Hawaiian Air employees, including pilots and flight attendants, amid scenic and dramatic Hawaii locales.

Backdrops for the video include Yokohama Bay and Kualoa Ranch on Oahu, Haleakala National Park and Poolenalena Beach on Maui, Waimea Canyon and Waikoko Farm on Kauai, and Saddle Road Lava Fields and Umauma Falls on Hawaii island.

“The decision to use employees versus actors really came from the fact that we wanted our guests to see that our crew members serving them in-flight live, work and play right here in Hawaii,” said Alisa Onishi, airline director of brand management and development.

The carrier prides itself on authentic Hawaiian hospitality, and “to be truly authentic we had to cast within our Hawaiian Airlines ohana, including their families,” she said.

The airline staged multiple casting calls during which employees from around the islands as well as some Los Angeles-based flight attendants auditioned, “some with their children and spouses as well,” Onishi said.

In addition to wanting to feature employees and their families, the airline wanted to reflect what employees do in their leisure time in their island home, and were “selected based on our scenes and activities,” she said.

The video was conceived by Anthology Marketing Group and was produced by Kinetic Productions, and is subtitled in Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean.

For generations there have been comedic routines about a “flight attendant hula,” and the Hawaiian Air safety video puts a graceful, noncomedic spin on the routine with a really cool “wow” moment in the presentation.

Flight attendant Radasha Ho‘ohuli, who has danced hula since age 7, shows where the exits and inflatable slides are on the aircraft, and the “wow” moment comes when the camera pulls way up to show her dancing in a large diagram of one of the airline’s jets — drawn in the sand.

All six members of the outrigger paddling crew shown in the video demonstrating proper use of the life vests “are iron racers and compete at the highest levels in the sport,” Onishi said.

Valerie Akiona, another flight attendant, is shown hiking the slopes of Haleakala with her flight attendant husband and their children.

“Most of us grew up with this amazing landscape as our playground,” Akiona said of her fellow flight attendants, in a statement. “It’s instilled in us to not only malama aina (take care of and nurture the land), but also enjoy it with our friends, family and guests.”

She wants people to pay attention to the safety instructions, “but I also really hope when they watch it they say, ‘Hey, where is that? I’d love to go there,’ knowing that they absolutely can make that a part of their trip,” Akiona said.

Cost savings by using employees in the video versus actors to play the roles likely were realized, she said.

“But,” Onishi said, “the value of having (our) own employees represent us is so much more meaningful.”

“We didn’t just pick the most beautiful people and put them on a horse or in a canoe. We went authentic all the way,” she said.

As part of launching the new safety video, which can be seen on Hawaiian’s YouTube channel, the airline is staging a social media contest through Sept. 18, offering 140,000 Hawaiian miles. Contestants are invited to post pictures of their favorite locations on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #HAOnLocation. The winner will be chosen at random.

On the Net:

>> Hawaiian Air safety video:

youtu.be/RezCPSi9wBY