Born and raised on Oʻahu’s North Shore – a stretch of rural coastline dubbed ‘the seven-mile miracle’ for its unrivaled concentration of world-class waves – Luke Shepardson, the son of an avid surfer and bodysurfer, was inevitably drawn to the ocean early on.

“You start at Haleʻiwa, learning to ride the whitewater, then bigger whitewater on the outside (break), and then real waves … Velzyland, Rocky Point, Sunset, and Waimea,” he recalls his progression in the sport, listing surf spots of increasing difficulty as if they were compulsory school grade levels. “The peer group that I was with, we were all just pushing each other, going bigger and bigger.”

A young Luke Shepardson with his father, Mark Shepardson

Shepardson’s surfing evolved as he participated in Hawaiʻi Amateur Surfing Association events around the island with his sights on a professional career. Along the way, he earned the nickname “Casual Luke” for his mellow, easygoing – almost non-competitive – approach to riding waves of consequence. He dropped out of Kahuku High School in ninth grade (later earning a General Education Diploma) and taught surf lessons to fund his travels.

But after years of competing and even securing sponsors, Shepardson abruptly quit.

“I gave up on my dream in my early 20s – it started getting late,” Shepardson, now 27, said pragmatically. “I also had my first son and figured I’d need a solid job.”

Ironically, once Shepardson decided to hang his contest jersey, he achieved one of his best results at Sunset Beach – one of Hawaiʻi’s most iconic and powerful surf breaks.

“My son was three months old, and I made the semifinals,” Shepardson said, smiling. “Once I gave up on trying hard, I did good. But before the contest, I knew it was my last one. I tried electrician work first, for the money, but I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t by the ocean. I missed a good Pipe(line) swell and quit the next day. I got into the next lifeguard trials a few weeks later.”

Following His Passion

A lifeguard since 2019, Shepardson never stopped surfing – especially when the waves got big.

In 2016, as a massive swell headed to Waimea Bay, organizers of The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational – the world’s most prestigious event of its kind – gave the greenlight to run the contest for just the ninth time since 1985. Created in honor of the late Waimea Bay lifeguard and waterman Eddie Aikau, and sponsored in part by Hawaiian Airlines since 2019, it requires waves to be consistently in the 20-feet-plus range (or 40-feet measured from the bottom to the crest of the wave) with favorable winds. Unlike traditional competitions, surfers cannot enter the Eddie by earning points at qualifier events. Instead, they must prove their ability in large surf and be selected by the Aikau family.

Shepardson was not on the coveted list, but he paddled out to the giant surf at dawn along with dozens of recreational surfers and invitees warming up for the contest. After falling on a huge wave, he was rescued, placed on a stretcher, and taken to a trauma center an hour away in Honolulu for evaluation. He was discharged and made it back to Waimea just in time to surf again after the Eddie had ended.

The following year, Shepardson was invited. He’s been welcomed back to the Eddie every year since, although the contest went on a six-year drought due to unreliable wave conditions.

That changed on Sunday, Jan. 22, when one of the largest swells to ever hit Waimea allowed the Eddie to go. Because the event is scheduled without advance notice as wave-producing storms suddenly generate in the Pacific, Shepardson was unable to request time off work, but his captain found a solution: Shepardson would be assigned to lifeguard at Waimea and use his breaks to surf his two heats.

On the eve of the Eddie, Shepardson attended a retirement party for a co-worker and went home to prepare. Surfers rely on various forecasting models to monitor big swells, but Shepardson, a resident of Pūpūkea, a community above Waimea Valley, didn’t need the data to know the waves would be enormous.

Shepardson waves to spectators after surfing a heat at the 2022-23 Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational

“You could hear the cracking and the thunder” of the swell building in size overnight, he recalled. “I was getting ready for bed about 10 p.m. when a buoy reading came at 23 feet, 19 seconds (reflecting the swell size and the time between each set wave). I had super gnarly butterflies. I went to bed to get ready for work. The buoy was at 27 feet, 19 seconds in the morning – the biggest I’ve ever seen for surfable conditions.”

The Eddie Goes

It is estimated that up to 40,000 people gathered at Waimea Bay to watch the 34th installment of the Eddie. On his early morning drive to Waimea, Shepardson got stuck in traffic. He asked his girlfriend to take the driver’s seat, grabbed his lifeguard fins and ran the remaining mile or so toward Waimea, where he arrived at 7 a.m. He immediately began patrolling the shore and preventing beachgoers from getting swept out to sea by the surging swell – as his fellow competitors caught practice waves in the distance.

Ironically for Shepardson, focusing on lifeguarding instead of the contest warm up was advantageous.

“I’m really glad I was working because I’m a horrible contest surfer and I get the butterflies, super anxious. I’m not myself,” he said. “I didn’t even think about the contest at all. It was work, super busy keeping everyone safe. Then OK, it’s time for my heat, I get a break from work, I get to catch a few waves and enjoy myself and be a part of this special event. It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine.”

Around 11 a.m., Shepardson walked down the steps of his lifeguard tower, waxed his 10-foot board, and paddled out for his first heat: earning a perfect 10-point ride along with an impressive nine as his backup score.

For the next several hours, Shepardson rode his ATV up and down Waimea, and even treated two competitors, Brazil’s Lucas Chianca and Kauai’s Keala Kennelly, for gashes on their leg and chin, respectively. Several spectators had to be rescued from the Waimea rivermouth as it got overwhelmed by the waves.
 

Shepardson with sons Haven (on left) and Wild, and girlfriend Natalia Macias

In the late afternoon, as Shepardson prepared for his second heat and the day’s last, Clyde Aikau, the younger brother of Eddie Aikau, offered him some advice.

“He came to me and said, ‘You need one really good wave and you win,’” Shepardson said. “I tried to brush it off because I’m not the best pressure person. I was telling myself if it (the right wave) comes to me, it’s meant to happen, but I’m not going to send myself over the ledge to get a 9.5 and get hurt, because I got to finish the day at work.

“Before my heat started there was a huge closeout set,” Shepardson continued. “Everyone got over it. I was getting into position, and a beautiful wave came straight to me. I committed and just went. At one point, I thought ‘Should I jump?’ but I got the drop, and there was a nice explosion (of whitewater) behind me. That felt really good. One of my best waves ever. I claimed it and cartwheeled (wiped out) instantly.”

Shepardson would later ride another wave, this time successfully exiting it just as it folded into a mountain of whitewater wrapping across the entire bay.

“I had a feeling I had a chance. I came in and changed into my work clothes,” he said, “then I got called to the podium.”

As Clyde Aikau announced the results starting from eighth place, Shepardson was the last surfer standing. He had won the Eddie Aikau, edging out runner-up finisher John Florence, the 2016 event winner and a two-time World Surf League champion, in a field stacked with the best big wave riders.
 

Shepardson is overcome with emotion after winning the 2022-23 Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational

“I just started crying. The amount of emotions that went through my body, it was crazy,” he said. After a brief celebration, Shepardson returned to his tower.

“I stayed there to back up my partners,” he said. “Everybody (all the lifeguards) in the water did really well, the beach stayed mostly under control. We stayed there until 7 o'clock, everyone stayed safe. It was a good day.”

Shepardson, whose sons are one and four years old, says his life has been “turned upside down” with dozens of media interviews and events. Honolulu’s mayor surprised him at his tower and declared Jan. 25 as Luke Shepardson Day. Later this month he will be recognized with a prestigious “Meritorious Act Award” by the United States Lifesaving Association Board of Directors.

Asked how he plans to use the 350,000 HawaiianMiles he won, Shepardson intends to take his children to visit their grandparents in California, followed by a trip to Tahiti, Japan, or Fiji.

On being forever associated with Eddie Aikau and his legacy, Shepardson reflected, “He set the bar so high – to have a perfect record of over 500 saves and no lives lost under his watch…. That’s unexplainable. 

“I’ll try my best to follow in his footsteps,” he added. “It’s really cool to be a lifeguard and share the passion for lifeguarding and love for big waves. He is an idol of mine and someone I look up to. I’ll never be as good as him but it’s cool to strive for something like that.”

Shepardson teaching his son Haven the ropes while tandem surfing at Pua'ena Point on Oahu's North Shore

In addition to being the exclusive airline sponsor of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, Hawaiian Airlines is also proud to be a longstanding sponsor of the Eddie Aikau Foundation’s Eddie Would Go Essay Contest, which helps spread Eddie’s story of courage and compassion in saving lives, and his dedication to the Hawaiian people and Hawaiʻi’s culture.

For the second consecutive year, Hawaiian Airlines’ Technical Operations (Tech Ops) team earned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Employer Diamond Award of Excellence – the agency’s top AMT honor.

Poʻokela (excellence) and innovation are core to Hawaiian’s strategy to succeed in its next growth period – which will include a new fleet of 12 Boeing 787-9s and a dedicated freighter operation for Amazon. To prepare for this phase of transformation, Hawaiian Airlines has been steadfast at building our workforce and recruiting for hundreds of positions essential to maintaining our high safety and reliability standards.

Hawaiian’s Tech Ops team is tackling the growing need for highly specialized labor by taking its workforce training and recruitment beyond the walls of the Charles I. Elliott Maintenance Facility, including hiring instructors to augment Honolulu Community College’s (HonCC) Aeronautics Maintenance Technology (AERO) program and streamlining training processes at North America maintenance bases to improve the efficiency of our new and current mechanic training.

To learn more about how we’re taking our aviation maintenance training and partnerships to new heights, we sat down with Beau Tatsumura, vice president of maintenance and engineering at Hawaiian Airlines.

First, can you explain what the Diamond Award means to Tech Ops?

The Diamond Award of Excellence is the FAA's highest award for aviation maintenance technicians and employers. It recognizes air carriers that initiate and sustain highly effective training programs with 100% of eligible technicians receiving an individual William (Bill) O’Brien Award in a calendar year. We are proud of this accomplishment earned by our technicians, and it means that all of our workforce is rated at the highest level of maintenance and safety standards.

In 2020, Tech Ops earned the Gold Award for 50% completion. How did you achieve 100% completion for the Diamond Award in 2021 & 2022?

We worked closely with the Tech Ops training team to ensure all our technician had the opportunity and time to complete the FAA’s prerequisite training during their required annual recurrent spotlight training. Each mechanic is tested in a series of modules according to the type of aircraft they are certified to repair during this training. Our quality assurance and training employees monitor our mechanics’ progress via programs that enable real-time tracking.

What are some other improvements made toward training efficiency for mechanics?

Hawaiian Airlines Training does a great job in providing core General Familiarization (GenFam) courses to our technicians, such as the ones covering the Airbus A330, Airbus A321neo and Boeing 717, so we didn’t have to make many adjustments. We did introduce advanced classes focusing on electrical wiring interconnection systems, fiber optics, nondestructive testing and A321 fire detection systems. These classes sharpen our mechanics’ existing skills so that they can be both preventative and better troubleshooters.

How has the addition of Hawaiian instructors to HonCC’s AERO program benefited students?

Having our instructors, Jason (Jay) Anderson and Glenn Macqueen, teach classes for HonCC’s Aeronautics Maintenance Technology (AERO) program will allow the college to double enrollment to 100 students by Fall 2023. The additional faculty also gives AERO program students greater access to extensive knowledge and apprenticeship that will foster a more productive learning environment. This translates to more opportunities to have students’ questions answered, help with studying, and access to the best industry practices from experts with various aviation maintenance backgrounds and who are dedicated to fostering a more dynamic and adaptable workforce.   

What are some other forward-thinking workforce development programs being utilized by Tech Ops?

If we can encourage students to consider careers in aviation maintenance and engineering early, we can create a steadier pathway for their careers and for the future of our operations.

We’re working closely with a Hawaii-based Universal Technical Institute (UTI) recruiter to promote the aviation industry and get local high school students excited about AMT careers. Students who enroll with UTI attend Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanic training on the U.S. mainland and can return home and work in Hawaiʻi after they complete A&P certification.  

Hawaiian Airlines and Embry-Riddle recently signed an agreement to become what we call Tier II partners, which allows transitioning military members who are enrolled at Embry-Riddle and have A&P certification to intern at Hawaiian. After completing their internship, we offer them an interview, and if they are the right fit, we bring them under our wing as a Hawaiian Airlines employee. 

Once on the brink of extinction, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian language) is now in an era of revitalization energized by a shared dedication to perpetuating the language and the knowledge it bears. This passing of the torch typically peaks in February, when Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language month) is celebrated statewide, including at Hawaiian Airlines. 

But this year, the Hawaiian Airlines Community and Cultural Relations team's Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi celebrations are living beyond February, thanks to a new partnership with local nonprofit Awaiaulu. 

Since 2003, Awaiaulu has developed educational resources (and people) to bridge Hawaiian knowledge from the past to the present and the future. The group of language experts is training fluent speakers to translate a massive repository of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi texts written before the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893 when the use of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi fizzled as English became the dominant language. Awaiaulu's 20 translators focus on preserving the indigenous knowledge shared in traditional Hawaiian publications, including formal letters, books, manuscripts, government documents and newspapers. The most recent product of its efforts is “Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood,” a robust, bilingual translation of clever, exhaustive newspaper articles written by Samuel Mānaiakalani Kamakau, a 19th-century Hawaiian historian and scholar.

To recognize this Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian Airlines contributed $12,240 to Awaiaulu to fund its donation of 272 copies of the book – which the nonprofit describes as an “invaluable catalog of data about Hawai‘i, Hawaiians, and the nature of national and cultural identity in the Pacific” – to 34 Hawaiian language immersion schools throughout Hawaiʻi. And this week, workgroups across the carrier's network were gifted a copy of the text, including 30 airport stations, its Phoenix IT Center, and its Honolulu-based maintenance and cargo hangar and headquarters. 

Flight attendant Kanani Santana-Koanui and her husband reading “Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood" to her two keiki, who attend one of the Hawaiian language immersion schools that were gifted copies of the book.

Manakō Tanaka, senior community and cultural relations specialist at Hawaiian, is proud of his team's work with Awaiaulu and believes the nonprofit is at the helm of “a huge undertaking for Hawaiian history.”

“Throughout the Hawaiian language revitalization movement, which started in the 1970s, people have worked off of the knowledge passed down from their kūpuna (elders) or what’s been shared in English versions of Hawaiian books – which weren’t always translated accurately,” he said.

“So, having ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers translate and create access to the information in these newspapers and documents opens up an entirely new library of knowledge for current and future generations. Those documents give us insight into the kūpuna of our kūpuna, and they are the oldest resources that we have to look back on when we try to understand what our kūpuna were doing and thinking.”

The cabin crew of Hawaiian's Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi flights between Kahului, Maui, and Las Vegas, held in February

Aside from the book donation, Hawaiian also engaged its employees and guests with a series of special Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi activities, including an ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi roundtrip flight between Kahului, Maui, and Las Vegas with certified ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi-speaking flight attendants. Employees also volunteered at Ola Ka ʻĪ (The Language Thrives), a series of three Hawaiian language gatherings organized by a group of local nonprofits at Oʻahu’s Windward Mall and Ka Makana Aliʻi, and the Queen Kaʻahumanu Center on Maui. The Hawaiian Airlines Serenaders performed live music and hula at the Ola Ka ʻĪ events as volunteers hosted arts and crafts, including a new coloring sheet that identifies the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi names for the parts of the Airbus A330 aircraft — Hawaiian’s flagship aircraft.

Click to download this coloring sheet for your keiki (children)

Employees also joined an ‘Imi ʻIke (to seek knowledge) session that shared ʻike (knowledge) and moʻolelo (stories) from community leaders, like Awaiaulu’s executive director, Puakea Nogelmeier. They listened to Nogelmeier’s manaʻo (thoughts) and moʻolelo (stories) behind his team’s grueling but impassioned work translating millions of pages of text, one word at a time, and with the historical context in mind. “Our work is not about language; it’s about knowledge. We are not re-writing history; we are putting the color in the black and white,” he said.

Nogelmeier elaborated, “Kamakau wrote in a language that was intentionally clear, so the Hawaiian he used was good quality Hawaiian for his time.” He held up the book to the group and teased its weight resulting from pages written in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and a meticulously translated English version. “This is a teaching text. It is meant to educate and create access to the Hawaiian language. You should read the book in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi first and then use the English version to affirm your understanding.”

Employees gathered in a pop-up Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi room at Hawaiian's headquarters for a reading of “Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood."

Tanaka said, “We want to proliferate Hawaiian knowledge within our ʻohana by creating opportunities for non-speakers to learn and use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi every day. By sharing the book with schools and our employees, we can further those efforts while also helping Awaiaulu make the knowledge of our kūpuna more accessible to the masses.”