Hawaiian Airlines abruptly cancels hundreds of flights Summer vacations could be beset by delays in new jet delivery

Hawaiian Airlines brand new Airbus A321neo now flies between Oakland and Maui and soon many other west coast routes-- but later than expected, which could wreak havoc with summer vacation plans Hawaiian Airlines brand new Airbus A321neo now flies between Oakland and Maui and soon many other west coast routes-- but later than expected, which could wreak havoc with summer vacation plans Photo: AIRBUS / C.Brinkmann Photo: AIRBUS / C.Brinkmann Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Hawaiian Airlines abruptly cancels hundreds of flights 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

The launch of three highly-anticipated non-stop flights bringing summer travelers between the Bay Area and Hawaii were unexpectedly either cancelled or deferred by Hawaiian Airlines Friday.

The carrier cited delays in the delivery of its new Airbus A321neo jets for the sudden schedule changes.

A new non-stop service between Oakland International Airport and Kona (Big Island) along with an added summer flight between San Francisco International Airport and Honolulu were both cancelled. Both flights were scheduled to launch in late May.

Another new non-stop between Oakland and Lihue (Kauai) that was scheduled to launch on April 11 will not operate until July 15.

All of those flights were supposed to be operated on Hawaiian's new Airbus A321neo single-aisle planes. (Read more about those new planes here.)

Hawaiian Airlines says passengers who were booked on the affected flights will be contacted directly and rebooked on its other flights serving the Bay Area. Passengers who have not been contacted can call the airline's reservations department at (800) 367-5320.

Some new itineraries may require passengers to fly to Hawaiian's hub in Honolulu and connect to flights to Kona and Lihue-- adding hours to the journey.

"We know how popular our seasonal summer flights have become, and we regret being unable to provide the full scope of services we had hoped to offer out of the Bay Area," said Hawaiian Airlines Vice President Brent Overbeek.

The airline added the services ahead of the busy summer travel season. The Hawaiian islands are a perennial favorite of Northern California travelers, particularly during the summer vacation months.

Hawaiian Airlines took delivery of its first A321neo in November 2017 and it began flying the plane on its Kahului to Oakland route in January. It has ordered 18 of the new, efficient aircraft from Airbus.

But many deliveries have been delayed because of problems with the engines, manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, that could cause them to shut down in-flight. Hawaiian Airlines has at least one A321neo in its fleet affected by the engine issue, according to CNN .

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to our guests whose flights have been affected, and we are currently re-accommodating them on our other flights from the Bay Area," said Alex Da Silva, a Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson. "We are also working with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney on our future A321neo deliveries."

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