Hawaiian Airlines, the state’s largest and oldest carrier, has a new look.
In a festive Lei Day celebration before more than 1,000 employees and invited guests, the airline unveiled Monday a new brand identity that included the first redesign of its iconic symbol, Pualani, since 2001, and other changes to the exterior paint scheme of its aircraft.
Hawaiian showed off a freshly painted Boeing 717 featuring the new look, which also includes a silver maile lei with woven pakalana flowers that wrap around the fuselage. It was the first aircraft in its fleet of more than 50 planes to get the makeover.
Pualani, which the airline refers to as the “Flower of the Sky,” was inspired by the flora of Hawaii and designed in 1973 by Walter Landor Associates. The original version, which marked Hawaiian’s transformation to an all-jet airline, combined a red hibiscus with a profile of an island woman wearing a flower in her hair to represent the spirit of Hawaii. This is the fourth time the logo has been enhanced since its debut 44 years ago.
The newest version features Pualani more prominently and has her sitting in front of the sun rather than a flower, with more of an upturned smile and a forward-looking gaze than the previous likeness. Purple also is more prominent in the logo’s color palette. The airline said it will begin implementing the new logo on its website, airport lobby signage, kiosks and at boarding gates.
“When we get this opportunity to refresh her and bring her into a more contemporary look that’s relevant for the time and add a maile lei, particularly on Lei Day, it’s really a fantastic opportunity for us,” Hawaiian President and CEO Mark Dunkerley told reporters at the event. “It’s important that the brand marks and liveries are kept up to date because we’re a company that’s been around for 87 years. Obviously, what was appropriate 87 years ago wouldn’t fit well today.”
Hawaiian declined to reveal the cost of the re-branding.
“Because the design change is an evolution, rather than a radical transformation, we are taking a measured approach that will help us manage the cost,” Hawaiian spokeswoman Alison Croyle said. “Some things, like airport signage and digital assets, will change quickly. Other, more expensive assets — especially aircraft liveries — can be changed at a more conservative pace to minimize the economic impact on the business.”
Colorado-based airline consultant Mike Boyd said it costs about $50,000 to paint an airplane but said some of Hawaiian’s aircraft probably were in line to be repainted anyway during cyclical maintenance.
“I would say (the re-branding) wouldn’t go over a million bucks,” Boyd said. “For a carrier like Hawaiian, it’s an investment, not an expense. It makes sense because this is a very different airline than it was 20 years ago, 10 years ago.”
Dunkerley said the time was right to make the change. Pualani’s last evolution, in 2001, occurred when Hawaiian’s interisland Boeing 717s and trans-Pacific Boeing 767s entered the fleet.
“We tend to make these changes when we reach important milestones, and this year is a very important milestone for us,” he said. “We’ve got a new fleet of aircraft coming. We’re about to embark on another period of growth. So it seemed like the right time.”
Hawaiian will be taking delivery later this year of new medium-haul, single-aisle A321neo aircraft, which could be used on flights from Hawaii to the West Coast. The company is phasing out its Boeing 767s. Hawaiian expects to receive 18 A321neos between the fourth quarter of this year and 2020.
“In the next three years we’re anticipating getting another 20 aircraft, which is a very sizable addition to our fleet,” Dunkerley said. “That will give us an opportunity to grow to new markets. … We’re going to see a lot more service direct from neighbor islands to the U.S. mainland, but also growth out of Honolulu that will include some long-haul growth as well.”
The celebration, which featured live performances from singers Henry Kapono and Robert Cazimero, took place in the unfinished cargo portion of Honolulu Airport’s long-delayed maintenance and cargo facility, which is stuck in a legal battle among a general contractor, subcontractors and the state Department of Transportation. The facility, which has far exceeded the $73 million contract that the state awarded six years ago, has 3,561 construction defects, according to Dunkerley.
“We have taken over construction,” Dunkerley told reporters. “We’re hoping that by year-end the facilities will be complete. It’s important to try to get them complete a little this side of Christmas so that we can move in. … But it’s years behind. The quality of the work has been very, very poor, so we have a lot of work to do. The entire facility is going to be about 50 percent over budget when all is said and done, and it will be roughly in the $120 million, $130 million range for this, which is unacceptable.”
Among other topics, Dunkerley said state lawmakers’ tentative plan to increase the Hawaii hotel room tax to 12 percent — from 9.25 percent — to help pay for rail is “a job killer.”
And he called “disappointing” the failure of a bill that would have created an airport authority to take control of the state’s 15 airports.
“Our airport facilities, to call them behind the times doesn’t do justice just how awful they are,” Dunkerley said. “The state is just not keeping up with developing the airport.”
