Private company

Air Hawaii

Airline of the United States (1985–1986)

Air Hawaii was a short-lived scheduled passenger airline providing service between Honolulu and the U.S. West Coast cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The airline advertised its service as "High Class. " Founded by Michael J. Hartley, who previously started The Hawaii Express and would later co-found CheapTickets, Air Hawaii began operations between Honolulu and Los Angeles on November 22, 1985, and added service between San Francisco in December.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1985Founded1
  • HeadquartersHonolulu1
Air Hawaii McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 Groves
Photo: Clinton Groves, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons4

Air Hawaii was a short-lived scheduled passenger airline providing service between Honolulu and the U.S. West Coast cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The airline advertised its service as "High Class. Low Fares." Founded by Michael J. Hartley, who previously started The Hawaii Express and would later co-found CheapTickets, Air Hawaii began operations between Honolulu and Los Angeles on November 22, 1985, and added service between San Francisco in December. The airline almost immediately ran into financial problems and discontinued operations on February 19, 1986.2

Products and brands

Destinations

Air Hawaii served three destinations in the United States:

Honolulu – Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport

San Francisco – San Francisco International Airport

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Fleet

Air Hawaii operated two McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft. Both of these planes had previously operated for Michael Hartley's previous venture, The Hawaii Express.

N904WA cn/ln: 46930/112 delivered: 13 January 1986

N905WA cn/ln: 46938/153 delivered: 20 November 1985

From Wikipedia’s article on Air Hawaii, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. Feb 19, 1986Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1985Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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