I was really looking forward to my first ever flight on Hawaiian Airlines. We had two long 5+ hour legs to our journey from Los Angeles to Honolulu, then to Papeete Tahiti.
The first thing that struck me was the flight attendants on both flights. I had unpleasant flashbacks of the Air Canada flight attendants from 10 years ago. There was no indication that they enjoyed their jobs in the least, and zero warmth with their customers. The only time I saw the young attendant on our last leg smile, was a couple of times when she was talking with a coworker. Other than that, she remained stone-faced.
The second thing that leapt out was the huge amount of nickel and diming that was going on. Want to watch a movie on your long flight? That will be $8. Snack – or anything other than water? There’s a fee. I was surprised not to see a charge to use the toilets.
Most of the good airlines understand the importance of making their passengers comfortable on long (and short) flights. The bump up the cost of a ticket by a few dollars, and throw in the movies and snacks. My guess, however, is that customers aren’t really a priority for Hawaiian Airlines.
