While the industry is rebounding and showing signs of recovery in some areas and vaccinations are well-underway after a dismal 2020 no thanks to the pandemic, we are yet again reminded that not everything will return to what it once was as certain operators are still struggling and some will likely cease operations. Today, Hawaiian Airlines announced that they will not resume their 'Ohana by Hawaiian interisland operations, thereby becoming another airline casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic; Hawaiian's decision comes following an in-depth assessment of the 'Ohana operations and its long-term viability. Utilizing ATR-42s for passenger services from Hawaiian's Honolulu hub to Molokai and Lanai along with ATR-72s for dedicated statewide cargo ops, 'Ohana by Hawaiian's operations last for just a little over seven years; Hawaiian Airlines owned the ATR-42s and ATR-72s and contracted Idaho-based Empire Airlines (a seasoned ATR operator) to fly for them.
As a regional subsidiary of Hawaiian Airlines and fully-integrated into their route network, 'Ohana by Hawaiian was founded in 2013 and fully intended to begin service in the summer of that year. However, such plans were delayed by a year due to delays in the certification process as a result of the government sequester in 2013. 'Ohana officially commenced flight operations on March 11, 2014. Later that year, Hawaiian announced that 'Ohana would expand to several other island destinations in the state. In July 2015, parent company Hawaiian Airlines announced that their 'Ohana operations would expand to all-cargo services utilizing ATR-72s; cargo flights began in March 2018.
Things started going downhill for the airline at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 when low demand for interisland travel along with government-mandated quarantine measures and travel restrictions affected passengers and crew members. As a result, Hawaiian Airlines started reducing scheduled operations with their interisland network throughout the year in order to survive the ongoing downturn. On November 1, 2020, 'Ohana's freighter operations were suspended. And due to a contract clause that Hawaiian Airlines' pilots had with the company, which stipulated that interisland 'Ohana flights couldn't be operated if mainline interisland flights operated by mainline Boeing 717s and A321neos were reduced as well. The last of 'Ohana's passenger service from Honolulu to Molokai and Lanai were suspended (at the time, temporarily) on January 14, 2021, which would eventually led to today's unfortunate announcement following the aforementioned assessment conducted by Hawaiian Airlines' regarding the long-term viability. It was estimated that 'Ohana wouldn't be able to fully resume operations until the end of this year, a timeline that parent company Hawaiian Airlines wasn't willing the bear with in terms of economic feasibility. At the time of writing, all company-owned ATR turboprops were in process of being ferried to the mainland and eventually be put up for sale. COVID-19 and the resultant travel restrictions and reduced demand became the final straw for Hawaiian Airlines' 'Ohana by Hawaiian operations.
Having never been the Hawaiian islands, I was fortunate enough to have been able to photograph several of Hawaiian Airlines' ATR turboprops (including all four of their ATR-42s as of recently!) when they were in transit between the islands and the mainland. They always stopped in McMinnville, Oregon during their ferry flights, which afforded me the unique opportunity to spot and photograph the airline livery outside of the Hawaiian islands.
Remembering Hawaiian's regional airline name brand, here's a photo montage of all the ATR turboprops in the 'Ohana by Hawaiian livery I managed to photograph up until today's announcement:
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| ATR-42-500 (N801HC) |
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| ATR-42-500 (N804HC) |
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| ATR-42-500 (N806HC) |
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| ATR-42-500 (N805HC) |
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