Hawaiian Airlines’ cargo operations brimming with activity amid pandemic

Pallets of food and beverage items – originally intended for passengers – now being provided to the Hawaii Foodbank. (Courtesy Hawaiian Airlines)


By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Eagle News) – While the passenger cabins of Hawaiian Airlines remain mostly empty and quiet during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the containers that fill the bellies of each active aircraft tell a different, more uplifting story.

Instead of handling luggage and other personal effects, Hawaiian’s cargo team has been providing critical service to transport much-needed items from the U.S. mainland to help local businesses keep shelves filled and to move medical supplies between the islands.

Each day, approximately 112,000 pounds (nearly 51,000 kilograms) of cargo have been carried across the airline’s network, from produce and other perishables to time-sensitive products like pharmaceuticals and shipments to the Blood Bank of Hawaii.

In response to last week’s spike of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Island of Maui, the airline sprung into action by transporting 10,000 surgical face masks from Las Vegas directly to the Maui County mayor’s office, which then distributed the items to Maui Memorial Medical Center, first responders, volunteers, and other community members.

Because nearly 95 percent of its flight operations are currently suspended, Hawaiian Airlines has quickly amassed a surplus inventory of in-flight service items. Over 7,500 juice cuplets have recently been donated to the Hawaii Foodbank; 1,000 fleece blankets have been delivered to the Honolulu Police Department to support the state’s Homeless Outreach and Navigation for Unsheltered Persons (HONU) program; and over 3,500 lie-flat seat mattresses – originally reserved for First and Business Class passengers – have been provided to the Hawaiian Humane Society.

 

Cases of fruit juice being prepared for delivery to the Hawaii Foodbank. (Courtesy Hawaiian Airlines)

 

“This donation highlights the best way to coordinate donations to help flatten the curve for the COVID-19 response,” said Luke Meyers, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA) administrator. “Hawaiian Airlines transporting the masks to Neighbor Islands helps to get it there faster. It’s what we would call a win-win all around.”

Hawaiian Airlines is currently transporting cargo between Hawaii, Los Angeles, and San Francisco using its wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft while constantly providing inter-island deliveries with their narrow-body Boeing 717 jets and ATR 72 all-cargo turboprop planes.

(Eagle News Service)