Summary Hawaiian Airlines began with a staid red and white color scheme that aligned with commercial aircraft of the day. The creation of the 'Pualani' design in 1973 was a significant change to the livery, which has continued for over 50 years. The latest livery was unveiled in 2017 to coincide with the delivery of the new Airbus A321neo fleet, and now adorns the new Boeing 787 fleet.
Since its founding 95 years ago, Hawaiian Airlines has grown from a small inter-island taxi service to an intercontinental airline. Over that time, its brand has evolved, and its livery has become one of the most eye-catching on any commercial aircraft. So let's look back at how the Hawaiian Airlines livery has evolved over the years.
The early years Hawaiian Airlines was founded in 1929 as Inter-Island Airways and started scheduled service with a fleet of two 8-seater Sikorsky S-38 aircraft, later complemented by amphibious 16-passenger Sikorsky S‐43s. Over the next few years, it added Douglas DC-3s to the fleet, and after the war, it acquired Convair 340s and the longer-range Douglas DC-6s for connections to the mainland. During this time, the livery was predictably staid, switching between bare metal and white-painted fuselage variations, always with red and white striped tails and traditional red cheat lines along the fuselage.
With the introduction of Douglas DC-9 jets to the fleet in 1966, the airline made some changes, including a more solid red cheat line and tail and a new logo called the “Hawaiian Jetbird” on the forward fuselage and engines. The creation of Pualani All this changed in 1973 when Hawaiian Airlines underwent a total brand revamp and introduced a dramatically different livery on its aircraft. It worked with design house Landor Associates, most famous in aviation circles for the British Airways livery introduced in 1984 that now carries its name.
Together, they created the ‘Pualani’ scheme, variations of which have since adorned all Hawaiian Airlines aircraft for over 50 years. Pualani, which means 'flower of the sky,' is the combination of a young Hawaiian woman with a flower in her hair and a larger flower in the background. It was designed to represent the airline's welcoming service and give a feel for the tropical paradise that is its home.
The face itself was inspired by Leina'ala Ann Teruya Drummond, a former Miss Hawaii in 1964 and a flight attendant at the airline who recently passed away. The airline sends its condolences to her family. Pualani was accompanied by a bolder typography for the logo, with the airline now stylized as “Hawaiian Air.
” Another dramatic change was made to the cheat lines on the aircraft. Gone were the horizontal red lines, replaced by sweeping orange and purple bands of color that extended from the tail and over the top of the fuselage at its midpoint. The 80s and 90s Hawaiian Airlines made further brand adjustments from the 1980s to the mid-1990s.
Tweaks to Pualani included changes to her hair and the flower within it, while the flower background became more filled in. The airline also removed the Pualani logo from the fuselage, replacing it with just the word ‘Hawaiian.’ The next significant change came in 1995 after it began leasing McDonnell Dougless DC-10s from American Airlines , which arrived in their characteristic polished aluminum livery.
Hawaiian Airlines took advantage of this by removing the AA cheat line and replacing it with a much more traditional orange and purple cheat line of its own, combined with a repaint of the tail. The turn of the century Unfortunately, this polished aluminum livery did not stand up well to the sun and salt air of Hawaii. As a result, it was soon replaced when Hawaiian underwent another brand refresh to accompany its fleet refresh in the early 2000s, where it acquired Boeing 717s and Boeing 767s to replace its DC‐9 and DC‐10 jets.
The 2001 brand refresh, christened the “Floral” livery, was Pualani's most significant change to date. Her face gained more detail in her mouth, eyes, and nose, and she had a subtle, welcoming smile. The color palette also shifted, contrasting two tones of purple with the flower's orange.
The most notable changes were to the aircraft themselves. Cheat lines were removed entirely, replaced by purple flowers cascading from the tail across the aft fuselage, while up front, a new all-caps purple logo in a new font resided on a plain white background. The most recent refresh After a successful 15-year run of the Floral livery, an all-new livery was unveiled in 2017 to coincide with the arrival of Hawaiian’s new Airbus A321neo aircraft.
This evolution saw a new Pualani logo with richer colors, which the airline described as follows: “Pualani, with her welcoming smile and proud gaze, embodies our culture even more clearly. She is now framed by the rising sun, watching over our guests and crew on their journey. To celebrate her regal status, we are featuring purple more prominently in our color palette, complemented by an updated graphical style that reflects our reputation as a premium, global brand.
” The airline also released a video to showcase how it arrived at this latest refresh of the brand: The most notable changes to the aircraft were that the cascading flowers on the aft of the aircraft had been provided with more detail, with greater color contrast given through the use of more magenta hues. In addition, a subtle grey-on-white maile lei graphic wraps the central part of the fuselage, leading forward to a smaller and more simplified version of the Hawaiian logo. But what is the future for Pualani? The latest livery has been applied to all of Hawaiian Airlines’ existing fleet of Boeing 717s, Airbus A321s, and Airbus A330s and was most recently used for the new Boeing 787-9s introduced to service earlier this year.
But the future of this eye-catching livery is uncertain as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) reviews the potential merger with Alaska Airlines . A decision on that is expected within weeks. While both carriers have pledged that the brands will remain separate, at least in the short term, it remains to be seen whether Pualani will fly alongside or be replaced by Alaska Airlines' equally iconic Inuit face.
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