A pleasant departure from rationality - Analyst Hawaiian Airlines Employee Review

2.0
Aug 30, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Living in Honolulu obviously, $0 domestic travel and <$80 international travel, moderate hotel discounts, brand new office building. Also a very friendly atmosphere, lots of baked goods. Local Hawaiians seem to be some of the most friendly people I've ever met and have a great appreciation of food. The time off policy is a spectrum ranging from absolutely terribly to quite favourable depending on your position, manager, etc. Work life balance is very dependent on your role - but it's absolutely not the type of place where people are burning the candle at both ends often if ever.

Cons

Career progression seems quite political with a visible bias towards local Hawaiians - HA is the most desirable place to work in Hawaii, especially with it's family travel benefits - this builds loyalty which is great, but it also creates some inherent protectionism and favouritism which is not just bad for non-locals, but also the company, especially when these things can impact important decisions involving lots of money. At all levels in the company (except VP+ who get stock comp) pay is relatively low, especially considering the high cost of living in Hawaii - it's a tax of living in paradise, and HR is probably aware that people aren't drawn here by money and pay accordingly. This lowers wage expense but at what cost? (morale, retention, motivation, etc.). In addition to the low pay, certain departments have not kept up with the growth of the airline and were not given a suitable budget to modernize. There is high turnover and many unfilled positions so not only are commercial decision processes silo'd, but they are also fragmented. The company trumpets openness and accountability but it doesn't seem to be this way. The profound lack of data driven decision making coupled with a lack of data driven post-decision evaluation leads to tremendous lack of accountability amongst decision makers. Because of this, perception and politics seem to be the primary drivers of key decision making, which frustrates many employees. The more someone is a "decision maker" the less accountability they have in the effort to which they put into their job, whereas employees who perform mainly manual processes are able to be held much more accountable - and they are.

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5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Love the culture and the flight benefits.

Cons

Bought by Alaska Airlines, which resulted in mass layoffs.

1
5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great Benefits for my Ohana

Cons

Not use to working nights and weekends. lol

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