Review of Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to Kailua in Domestic First

Hello everyone,
After much delay, welcome to the next installment in my series of flights to the Big Island of Hawaii. This very short flight from Honolulu to Kona is operated by a B717-200. HA is the 4th airline on which I've had the opportunity to fly a 717, the others being AirTran, Midwest Airlines, and most recently Delta.
The routing:
Washington-Reagan DCA - Los Angeles LAX, Alaska Airlines, B737-800. Economy
Los Angeles LAX - Honolulu HNL, Delta Air LInes, B757-300, First Class
Honolulu HNL - Kailua-Kona KOA, Hawaiian Airlines, B717-200, First Class [THIS REPORT]
Kailua-Kona KOA - Los Angeles LAX, Delta Air Lines, B757-200, First Class
Los Angeles LAX - Detroit Metro DTW, Delta Air Lines, B757-200, First Class [COMING SOON]
Detroit Metro DTW - Washington-Reagan DCA, Delta Air Lines, MD88, First Class [NO REPORT]
After a very good flight from LAX, we had a few hours to kill. As with all Domestic First flights, we didn't have access to a lounge, but HNL is a reasonably interesting airport with it's open air areas with gardens, and quiet sections int he terminal if you prefer to stay in the air conditionning. And there are good views of the tarmac for us planespotting geeks :-)

Aloha!

HA's new rgional subsidiary, Ohana Air. A great livery in the image of the parent company. Ohana means family in Hawaiian.

HA B717

Beautiful colors with the sunset.

Boarding begins about 15 minutes late due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft, but they sure did a good job of quick-turning the plane and we boarded quickly.
At first sight, the F cabin looks quite nice and intimate as there are only 2 rows.
The seats are plush and comfortable.

View from my seat in 2A.

The seat pitch is better than in most domestic First cabins. Certainly better than DL, known for it's tight pitch in F.

Amother 717 nextdoor

Safety Card, with a Hawaiian flair

HA's inter-island network in the in-flight magazine.

Despite the late start to the boarding process and a very full flight, we pushed back less than 5 minutes late. There is no pre-departure drink, I'm guessing due to the rushed boarding, or perhaps HA doesn't do PDBs on inter-island F. The FA did come by right after boarding, however, and asked us what we would like to drink after takeoff. We asked for Mai Tais naturally :-)

Takeoff over Honolulu…these views would have been much nicer in the daylight.
Oddly the cabin lights stayed on during takeoff making night photography out the window difficult.

Our FA got up as soon as they were allowed and came through the cabin with snack mix then brought our Mai Tais.

Plastic cups on the ground for PDBs I understand, but I'm not used to seeing them used in the air in F. Maybe it's because the flights are so short.

The FA is very attentive and comes throug the canin several times to check in on passengers. We were able to have several drinks on this very short 35 minute flight.
The cabin in flight.

The flight is so short that the seatbelt sign never came off.
Despite our late departure we arrive in Kona on time.
Last view of our 717.

Thanks for reading this short report!
A few bonus pics of the Big Island. It really is a fantastic place.
Volcanic cliffs.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Unfortunately, we were not able to see any lava flows even though the house we rented was less than a mile from the current active flow. The police do a good job of blocking off the flow for safety reasons, which is understandable.

The Big Island is also famous for its coffee.

Rainbow Falls, Hilo

Akaka Falls

North Hilo