I was very surprised to learn that Hawaiian no longer offers special meals in business class on international flights.
Those in coach can request vegetarian meals (not vegan), but any other special meals are excluded.
Apparently, this policy happened after the last update of the menu and uniforms last November. https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/releases/hawaiian-airlines-introduces-new-meal-program-designer-uniforms
Here is their page regarding meals. http://hawaiianair.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/392/~/in-flight---meal-service
As usual, I expect several responses saying that airlines are not restaurants and they dont have to cater to any special needs, but we are talking about international business class where they compete with other premium airlines that do cater to special needs. Their meals page even says to bring your own food if you dont like what they serving, which sounds dismissive.
In my case, that means I have to add extra time to my journey so i can stop at a vegetarian restaurant (if any) before the flight to buy my food for the 9 hour flight HNL-AKL (in business class). This extra planning, and the fact that i need to eat cold food from a brown bag in business class, ruins the whole premium class experience of the flight.
It makes me wonder how diabetics and those with gluten allergies would deal with this, and how those that normally order kosher or muslim, etc, react to this after paying an expensive business class ticket.
Again, I am very surprised that HA made changes to the menu and uniform but it actually made the experience worse for some. Doesn't seem very wise or competitive.
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Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
HA “J class” is rather underwhelming in general. More of a domestic F product.
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
They know how many passengers HNL-Asia/SYD/AKL order special meals. They know most Hawaiian residents will still fly Hawaiian. They can do the math.
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
They should charge more for the special needs ... to cover the unnecessary operational complexity and extra work
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
Xkorpyoh wrote:I was very surprised to learn that Hawaiian no longer offers special meals in business class on international flights.
Those in coach can request vegetarian meals (not vegan), but any other special meals are excluded.
Every menu has a vegetarian option, take a peak at the menus that are listed.
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
I’m not sure what you’re going on about here, but I pulled up the menu for HNL-NRT, which is probably their busiest international route, and there’s a lot of vegetarian options here. The Japanese menu is overwhelmingly vegetarian and the western menu has a vegetarian option for the entrée.
https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/our-se ... nus/narita
As to other options like halal and kosher and whatnot, they’ve probably determined there isn’t enough of a demand to offer it.
If you’re vegetarian, buy something before the flight, it’s not that difficult. Most major airports offer to-go food available for purchase for just this reason. If you’re diabetic, make sure you’ve got what you need to make it through the flight. At some point, personal responsibility needs to kick in and you need to take care of yourself and not depend on the airline for your well-being. I’m a vegan for medical reasons and this really isn’t rocket science. Plan ahead.
https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/our-se ... nus/narita
As to other options like halal and kosher and whatnot, they’ve probably determined there isn’t enough of a demand to offer it.
If you’re vegetarian, buy something before the flight, it’s not that difficult. Most major airports offer to-go food available for purchase for just this reason. If you’re diabetic, make sure you’ve got what you need to make it through the flight. At some point, personal responsibility needs to kick in and you need to take care of yourself and not depend on the airline for your well-being. I’m a vegan for medical reasons and this really isn’t rocket science. Plan ahead.
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
toobz wrote:HA “J class” is rather underwhelming in general. More of a domestic F product.
It's moving to a lie flat J
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
jetwet1 wrote:toobz wrote:HA “J class” is rather underwhelming in general. More of a domestic F product.
It's moving to a lie flat J
All 24 330s have the lie flat product.
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
777PHX wrote:I’m not sure what you’re going on about here, but I pulled up the menu for HNL-NRT, which is probably their busiest international route, and there’s a lot of vegetarian options here. The Japanese menu is overwhelmingly vegetarian and the western menu has a vegetarian option for the entrée.
https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/our-se ... nus/narita
As to other options like halal and kosher and whatnot, they’ve probably determined there isn’t enough of a demand to offer it.
If you’re vegetarian, buy something before the flight, it’s not that difficult. Most major airports offer to-go food available for purchase for just this reason. If you’re diabetic, make sure you’ve got what you need to make it through the flight. At some point, personal responsibility needs to kick in and you need to take care of yourself and not depend on the airline for your well-being. I’m a vegan for medical reasons and this really isn’t rocket science. Plan ahead.
I am vegan too, and will get my cold food before boarding, but, like I mentioned, it changes the high expectation of enjoying a long haul premium product and affects the value and perception of the airline and the product.
I manage the travel program for a multi-national company and, when we evaluate the preferred airline agreements, we look at details like this to compare the competitiveness and value of the product in the market vs price/discounts. This may seem minor, but in our ranking system, we would deduct points from HA for not catering to all (we have Muslim, Jews, diabetic and vegans in the company). They will definitely be downgraded on our list, and the reason for this posting: they are not being as competitive any longer, even with the so-called improvements.
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
After reading this article "Hawaiian Airlines has the unhealthiest food, according to new study" (Dec 2017), i think i am good getting my own food to eat onboard anyway.
http://www.latimes.com/food/sns-dailymeal-1862020-hawaiian-airlines-unhealthy-airplane-food-study-12917-20171209-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/food/sns-dailymeal-1862020-hawaiian-airlines-unhealthy-airplane-food-study-12917-20171209-story.html
Re: Hawaiian Airlines INTL Business Class = No Special Meals
According to this article, their menu looks delicious! Personally, as I'm not flying twice a day 365 days a year, I don't care at all if it has 900 calories! ... Or no, I care. It's definitely a plus 
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