Aloha, Mahalo for the Ohana and Hānai
So many beautiful words in Hawai’i. If you look up the word Hānai in a Hawaiian dictionary, or more realistically, google the word’s meaning you might find; foster child, adopted child, foster, adopted. It was easy to choose a word to describe what it feels like to be a part of an Ohana such as ours at Hawaiian Airlines. I know you don’t need a dictionary for that word’s definition. Thanks to moments like the one in Disney’s Lilo and Stitch we all know what Ohana means. Ohana, Aloha, Mahalo, so many beautiful words from a language and culture that we have been lucky to have been welcomed into. One of many examples as for why Hānai is one of my favorite and most resonating Hawaiian words.
Hānai is a beautiful word that means something to me when I think of my own experience at Hawaiian Airlines but along with that word and the others I mentioned above the Hawaiian language in general has been seeing another resurgence of sorts. Thanks to the efforts of many educators and local leaders, like many other colonized countries, states and islands, Hawaii hopes to reclaim one of their most valuable treasures, language once stolen and hopefully on its way to being mostly restored. How wonderful to see new generations learning the ōlelo as a more regular occurrence. Recently at our Purpose and Values Immersion in Honolulu we focused on the meaning of and participated in exercises and activities that helped define our values in a meaningful yet playful manner. Mālama: Care; the care we take when helping our guests and each other. The care we take with our equipment, our operation and our reputation. Ho’okipa: Hospitality; this is the first thing I think of when I think of our Hawaiian Airlines culture which reflects the beautiful hospitality of the people of Hawaii. The pride we feel when we continuously hear that our guests choose to fly with us because they love that the Hawaiian hospitality starts their vacation from the moment we say “Aloha” when we greet them at the curb or at the check-in counter. Lōkahi: Collaboration; The way our team is there for each other in good times and hard times. We have checked in on each other during absences, a COVID furlough, comforted each other during personal times of distress, we have celebrated each other in family milestones and victories as well. When my cherished Aunt, Tia Claudina battled breast cancer and my mother and I wanted to shave our heads in solidarity, HR and management supported me and this wish and my manager at the time, Lila even crocheted little pink ribbons for the team to wear. My Tia has since recovered and rang the bell upon her completion of chemotherapy. My current manager, Pua also uses her hands in acts of service for the team by making leis to gift us and help celebrate our special milestones. A fellow agent, Mary consistently picks flowers from her personal garden and brings them in to share with us so that we can wear them in our hair. The guests really love this special touch as we greet them on the start of their Hawaiian journey. We cook for each other, volunteer together, walk together in Holoholo Challenges or after ops. As any family does we have also walked bumpy roads together and forgiven each other like true Ohana. Po’okela: Excellence; This is the final of the four values and is the perfect one to end with because it takes all the above to show our excellence as we strive to bring excellence to all the above. It’s like a circle with no end, a lei of trust and collaboration.
Speaking of our Purpose and Values Immersion, when in Honolulu I was adopted into new groups of friends and teams of flight attendants and agents from other stations. I ran into one of the regular attendants out of SAN that I love so much. Tommy is always a ray of sunshine and light, loving and kind to all he meets. He holds a special place in my heart as my husband Brian and I were lucky to be seated in his First Class Cabin on our first Non-Rev flight to Maui to celebrate our wedding anniversary. He invited me to join his table of friends and they all took me under their wing and showed me a great time and I again felt like hānai.
I love the special moments when you can really make a guest’s day, when you can connect with them as you check them in, help get them back to their loved ones, help them solve an issue with their reservation or help them locate a lost item. I love walking around the airport and witnessing the sacred moments of happy reunions. If you’ve seen the movie Love Actually, you surely remember the opening and closing airport scenes. Working at the airport truly looks like that if you pay attention. The happy reunions, flowers, huge homemade signs, costumes, hugs, tears, laughter. There’s also beauty in the sad, extra long goodbyes, parents dropping kids for a back to college flight, deployment goodbyes, and some moments I’ve witnessed, too heartbreaking to share here. Of course there are also tough moments when you have to deal with unruly or unhappy people, when you have to remain calm and professional in the face of adversity, when you keep positive even though you feel like the dog being kicked in a scenario from the syndrome. I am absolutely certain that those occurrences are not frequent enough to overshadow the good we get to experience.
I wish everyone was as lucky to participate in this rewarding and important mission of connection. My family is ever so grateful for my work and the fact that they receive such generous travel benefits. I believe that one of the most valuable gifts we can give our children or those we love is the experience of travel. Seeing as much of this beautiful planet and its diverse people is necessary to better understand, love and care for all our brothers and sisters and appreciate our differences. Connecting with more people and their cultures, languages, religions, music, food and stories for a peaceful tomorrow. Before I worked at Hawaiian Airlines we embarked on a cross country road trip in our minivan and as humble as that trip was, it was still quite magnificent. If a flight is out of your reach this year, plan a road trip, go see something new. Take the Aloha with you or welcome someone to your town or home and make them feel like hānai. You, your family, community and the world will be better for it.
Please enjoy this music collection of songs I play during boarding when working in the jet bridge and having the honor of giving the last Shaka before our guests board the flight. This playlist includes artists who have graced us with performances at our events or you might hear on our flights and songs you might hear on your adventure throughout the beautiful islands.
Good Morning Hawaii-Kolohe Kai
Love, Give It Freely- Paula Fuga & Natural Vibrations
Island Style- John Cruz
Ke Aloha O Ka Haku (Queen’s Prayer)- Henry Kapono
Somewhere Over the Rainbow- Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
True Colors (Kou ‘ano Kū’i’o)- Anuhea
Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride- Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus & Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu
Lava (From “Lava”)- Kuana Torres Kahele, Napua Greig & James Ford Murphy
Duke’s on Sunday- Henry Kapono
Beautiful Kauai- Don Ho
Sweet Lady of Waiahole- Bruddah Waltah
Maui- Keauhou
Hawai’i Au- The Sunday Manoa
My Sweet Pikake Lei- The Brothers Cazimero
Kawaiokalena- Keali’i Reichel
Hilo March (feat. Amy Hanai’alii Gilliom & Willie K)
Proud as the Sun- Kimié Miner
Midnight Sailing- Kalapana
Country Road (feat. Jack Johnson)
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/al-vibes/pl.u-Gm4Vhlo0Ek
