This profile is a continuation of a monthly blog series dedicated to outlining some of the exciting career paths of Hawaiian Airlines’ leaders. To view more executive profiles, click here.

When Hawaiian Airlines Chief Financial Officer Shannon Okinaka was seven, her family packed up their Southern California home and moved across the Pacific to a road fronting her grandparents’ house in the small town of Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island. The transition was challenging; Okinaka had to make new friends in a tight-knit community and navigate the various cultural and linguistic nuances unique to Hawaiʻi.

“When I first moved here, I felt very different,” she recalled. “I had a tough time understanding teachers and neighbors who spoke pidgin (a dialect originating from Hawaiʻi’s plantation era). One time in elementary school, our teacher asked us to save our cartons from lunch and bring them the next day for an Easter project, but she pronounced it ‘cah-ton.’ I thought she said cotton, so I brought in a handful of cotton balls the next day. She wasn’t too happy about that.”

Okinaka, center, with her younger brother and sister in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island

But over time, Okinaka came to embrace her new home on Hawaiʻi Island. Her mother got a job in the Hawaiʻi State Department of Human Services, and her father worked long hours as an electronics technician servicing various Mauna Kea telescopes. Okinaka recalled her father having to drive up the dormant volcano – which peaks at over 13,800 feet above sea level – and becoming a master of its once-dangerous roads.

“I loved driving Saddle Road with him. One day, we drove to Kona to meet my mom who was serving on jury duty, and my dad handed me the keys and said, ‘Why don’t you drive?’ Back then, Saddle Road was in horrible condition, but he knew where every pothole and every sharp or unmarked turn was, so we could drive fast and have fun,” she said. “He knew that road like the back of his hand.”

As Okinaka eased into new schools and the community, she discovered a love for and comfort in the consistency of numbers.

“I’m very left-brained and have always been interested in math,” Okinaka said, adding that in addition to band, cheerleading and diving, she was once a winning mathlete. She reminisced on competition days with her team at Waiakea High School and when a teacher first opened her eyes to the possibility of attending a school like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“My math teacher told my dad I should consider applying to a university like MIT, which was big for me because that was the first time that I felt someone – besides my parents – believed I could really go far,” she said.

Okinaka, pictured left, during her high school graduation

Despite the spark of confidence, Okinaka knew that attending a private school like MIT was out of her family’s financial reach. Instead, she accepted an invitation to attend the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) Shidler College of Business – becoming the first in her family to graduate with a four-year degree. (Twenty-five years later, in recognition of her business leadership, Okinaka was inducted into the college’s prestigious alumni Hall of Honor.)

While at the UH Mānoa campus on Oʻahu, Okinaka dated a boy who got her interested in acting and community theatre. She befriended and performed under Lisa Matsumoto, a graduate student who wrote a series of iconic Hawaiʻi family plays and became someone Okinaka looked up to.

“Lisa had this amazing balance of left and right brain: she was amazingly organized, super creative and an incredible leader,” Okinaka shared. “We, including Lisa, were all a bunch of college kids who would goof around during rehearsal, but when she felt we needed to focus, she would be upfront with us and let us know. She showed me that, while having fun is important, your leadership responsibility trumps friendship if people aren’t doing what you need them to do to accomplish the greater goal. And her being honest with us and pushing us actually made our relationship with her stronger.”

Matsumoto was among many mentors in Okinaka’s life who, she believes, still play an integral role in how she leads her team at Hawaiian Airlines. “I had so many mentors, including Lisa, my teachers at Waiakea, my friends, my supervisors, etc. I can’t specifically pinpoint where my personal leadership style comes from, but I do know I observed different elements of those different people and decided what I liked and didn’t like for myself,” she explained.

Okinaka pictured with Kathy Wong-Nakamura, a former Hawaiian Airlines employee and someone she looked up to when she first joined the company, at a community theatre production.

Over the next two decades, Okinaka built an incredible career in Honolulu. She held various financial roles at Hawaiian Electric Co. and Coopers & Lybrand/PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she served Hawaiian Airlines as a client. “I had worked on the Hawaiian Airlines account since January 2005 and supported the company with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance since it was planning to emerge from bankruptcy in June 2005 as a public company,” she explained. 

Okinaka later accepted a senior director role at Hawaiian in September 2005. In her first years on the job, she recalled, she worked through the remnants of the bankruptcy days, including a scarcity mentality that persisted throughout the company’s long journey toward rebuilding its balance sheet.

“There was hesitancy to purchase things like office supplies in those days. I remember saying we need electric staplers instead of manual staplers, but someone said, ‘oh no, no, we can’t afford that,’” Okinaka said. “People were still trying to make do and work with what they had, which wasn’t always necessary. I think that hurt us back then, and our leadership team had to work hard to tell people to speak up if they needed something and not to try and be a martyr for the company. The answer wasn’t always yes, but at least there was an understanding of a need.”

The Okinaka ʻohana

As Hawaiian eventually came to thrive, so did Okinaka. And she attributed much of her success at that time to supervisors who gave her flexibility to manage her work while caring for two young children with her husband.

“I feel super lucky I was hired at Hawaiian when I started having kids,” she said. “My supervisor Paul Kobayashi was the controller, and he was extremely flexible. He had young kids, and the accounting department was heavily female with young families, so he understood if I needed to leave early one day.”

Then in 2011, Hawaiian Airlines’ then-Chief Financial Officer Peter Ingram – now president and CEO – encouraged Okinaka to consider a new role as vice president and controller. However, the job wasn’t one she envisioned herself doing. “I thought it was a nerdy accountant role, and I am not a nerdy accountant. I like processes and systems, working with people and teams,” she said. “But Peter continued to push me and wanted me to go through the interview process.”

She got the job and held the position for four years before she was tapped again for a new role, this time by former President and CEO Mark Dunkerley, who wanted Okinaka to serve as CFO.

Okinaka, pictured front, walking out to compete in The Great Hawaiian Plane Pull of 2019, one of Hawaiian's 90th-anniversary celebrations.

“I really didn’t think I was ready for the CFO role,” she remembers. “When Mark asked me if I had ever thought about it, I told him I wasn’t interested but could give him a list of names. But – like Peter – Mark persisted. He wanted someone in the CFO role that he was comfortable with and could trust. I was nervous that I would make one big, bad decision and have to look for a new job, but after some time learning the role, I became less nervous about it. It took me a while to figure out what Mark was seeing in me that made a fit, but I learned he wanted someone who could look at the company from a broader perspective.”

She added, “If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have taken either the CFO or controller job if my leaders didn’t see something in me and push me into them.”

Okinaka pictured during an interview for a company video

Seven years later, Okinaka has settled into her C-suite seat at the executive table.

“It took me a long time to get comfortable with myself,” she said. “Going back to my theatre days, I never believed I was a contributing member of the theatre group – I believed I was the girlfriend of one of the guys in the group, and I would sit in the back while he shined. I had to learn to accept myself and realize that I had a purpose there, too, and that I deserved to be there just as much as anyone else.”

Okinaka today believes her biggest strength at the company is bringing the right people together to get things done. For example, when asked about how she successfully navigated the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, she looked toward her team’s smart thinking and hard work.

Okinaka, front, competing at the The Great Hawaiian Plane Pull of 2019 with Hawaiian's leadership team.

“In looking at the bigger picture, I know that if our people feel appreciated and supported, they’ll do great work and deliver the high level of service our company is known for delivering. It all comes full circle.”

“I’m not the smartest person, but I know who they are,” she said. “I see the disconnect, and it’s my job to fill that gap. My accomplishments as CFO are not mine – they are my team’s. Everyone on my team plays an important role, and I’m incredibly proud of all of them.”

When asked what advice she would give someone trying to advance their career, she affirmed the value of understanding and knowing yourself and being a good listener. “People need to understand their strengths and weaknesses, learn to accept each other’s differences, and listen respectfully,” she said. “It only benefits the greater whole and makes us stronger.”

Photo credit: NASDAQ

Okinaka (front row, third from right) with Hawaiian Airlines leadership team and employees who traveled to New York City in December 2018 to ring the Nasdaq Closing Bell.

She added that while both men and women should support each other, women especially shouldn't be afraid to speak up.

“I appreciate the strong female leaders I’ve worked with at Hawaiian Airlines,” Okinaka said. “Sometimes I didn’t always agree with what they said, but their willingness to speak out always amazed me, which helped me speak out too. I wasn’t always comfortable doing that, but I am now and know how to hold my seat at the table.”

When Okinaka isn’t overseeing Hawaiian Airlines’ finances, she’s supporting her now-teenage children and volunteering in the community. “I have two very wonderful and active children, and because of them, I don’t have many hobbies of my own. All my extra time goes to chauffeuring, watching soccer, baseball and basketball games, doing science fair projects and studying for tests,” she said.

Okinaka also serves on the Board of Directors of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the State of Hawaiʻi Workforce Development Council, and is a co-chairperson for the executive leadership team for the American Heart Association – Hawaiʻi division.

Photo credit: David Croxford (Photo originally published in Hawaii Business Magazine)

Hawaii Business Magazine in 2016 named Okinaka as one of 20 emerging leaders who have made major contributions to Hawaii and whom they expect to have an even greater impact over the next two decades.

Despite her many personal and professional responsibilities, Okinaka says she’ll never stop trying to be better and improve for her family and team. “I am constantly learning from the amazing people around me, and about myself, how to be a better leader for Hawaiian, Hawaiʻi and my family, how to be a better analyst/business thinker, etc.,” Okinaka said.

“Ultimately, my job is removing obstacles so that those in my team can do their jobs well. So, every day I’m thinking about how I can better support the people around me. In looking at the bigger picture, I know that if our people feel appreciated and supported, they’ll do great work and deliver the high level of service our company is known for delivering. It all comes full circle.”

Working a job in travel and aviation is as exciting as it gets. For the 8th annual Girls in Aviation Day (Sept. 24), 60 Hawaiian Airlines employees from across the company volunteered to give a group of 40 future female leaders a glimpse into a career at Hawaiʻi’s hometown carrier. 

Students tried out inflight safety demonstrations and asked questions about flight attendants' responsibilities inside an aircraft cabin mock-up used for training.

Girls in Aviation Day, organized locally by the Women in Aviation International (WAI) Aloha Chapter, drew young girls from Oʻahu, ages 12 to 17, to Hawaiian Airlines' Honolulu headquarters. On Saturday, the WAI Aloha Chapter and Hawaiian's Women in Aviation Employee Resource Group (WIA ERG) joined Chief Operating Officer Jon Snook in welcoming the eager students before embarking on a series of interactive, behind-the-scenes activities. 

Hawaiian Airlines Chief Operating Officer Jon Snook welcomed the group of students at the carrier's Honolulu headquarters.

Throughout the day, each student received one-on-one mentorship from employees who shared their expertise, from maintenance and engineering to flight attendants and pilots. They also demoed exercises in the carrier’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner simulator and inflight training facilities, tested tools used daily to maintain its 61-aircraft fleet, learned about various corporate roles, and listened to the different career paths of Hawaiian employees.

Students listened to employees explain a selection of instruments used at Hawaiian's Honolulu maintenance and engineering hangar.

“I think it’s important to the girls to see other women with careers in aviation. For me, I love being able to share my experience,” said Elouisa Oki, manager of engineering at Hawaiian Airlines. “At the end of the day, we want them to know and believe that they can do anything if they set their heart to it. That’s the bottom line.”

Oki showed the girls samples of aircraft materials and explained her role in technical operations.

Members of the Scouts USA Kailua Girl Troop 311 and the Girl Scouts of Hawaiʻi also joined the events, leveraging their Girls in Aviation Day experiences to earn a special aviation merit badge. Requirements for their badges included identifying and describing different aircraft types and explaining the primary control surfaces used from takeoff to landing.

Hawaiian Airlines pilots explained how the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner simulator is used for pilot training.

“The full flight simulator was quite a complete experience to earn their merit badge,” said Joelle Simonpietri, assistant scoutmaster for Troop 311. “We appreciated the opportunity from Women in Aviation International, and a big mahalo to Hawaiian Airlines’ Wahine in Aviation group for their generous hosting of our eager Scouts. Our young girl leaders were given front row access to Hawaiian Airlines pilots, flight attendants, engineers, and the other supporting work groups necessary to support a large airline.”

Flight attendants demonstrated how a life raft is used during an emergency water landing.

“Exposing Hawaiʻi’s youth to aviation early on is an extension of our company’s purpose and values,” shared event co-organizer Celinda LoBosco, manager of material planning and WIA ERG member at Hawaiian Airlines. “We want to show our hoʻokipa (hospitality) and ensure that everyone – including the next generation – feels they have equal access to opportunities in the aviation industry.”

Employees across Hawaiian Airlines sat down with Girls in Aviation Day participants and answered their career questions.

“We’re so thrilled to be able to host Girls in Aviation Day again this year, and I hope to see some of their faces at Hawaiian Airlines in the future,” LoBosco added.

It’s been three years since the New Zealand Sea Cleaners last stepped foot on the Hawaiian Islands as part of its mission to remove rubbish from coastlines and beaches. Last week, the nonprofit teamed up with Hawaiian Airlines and Hawaiʻi Tourism Oceania (HTO) to end its pandemic-ensued hiatus. Hayden Smith, who founded the Sea Cleaners in 2002 to protect New Zealand coastlines, gathered 10 youth ambassadors, including four Kiwi, four Aussie and two Hawaiʻi participants, to embark on an environmental stewardship experience of a lifetime.

In commemorating International Coastal Cleanup Day (Saturday, Sept. 17), the Sea Cleaners youth ambassadors gathered at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, an oceanside system of protected lands, marshes and waters managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group worked alongside 14 Hawaiian Airlines Team Kōkua volunteers and representatives from HTO, the Oʻahu Visitors Bureau and the Australian Consulate-General. In total, volunteers removed nearly 800 gallons of debris.

“We’re trying to teach these youth ambassadors about the impact of plastics on our oceans. Where the Hawaiian Islands are situated geographically in the Pacific Ocean, the shores get inundated with plastic debris washing ashore from all different directions, so it’s been an eye-opening experience for many of them,” Smith said. “Our intent during this trip is to be good tourists, leave the place better than when they found it, and educate these youth from around Oceania so when they go home, they can share their stories amongst their own community and help with slowing down the waste stream entering the Pacific in the first place.”

Tucked away on Oʻahu’s northeastern shore, James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge is a sanctuary for endangered waterbirds, migratory shorebirds, waterfowl, seabirds, native plant species, Hawaiian monk seals, and Hawaiian green sea turtles. Despite having few visitors, the coastline is a hot spot for trash, fishing nets and buoys, and plastics that ride ocean currents until they wash up on shore.

The Sea Cleaners and its youth ambassadors arrived on Oʻahu on Sept. 13 via Hawaiian’s nonstop Auckland and Sydney flights. Before International Coastal Cleanup Day, the group hosted educational presentations at schools, cleaned beaches with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaiʻi, volunteered with Nā Kama Kai and engaged in various voluntourism experiences through the Mālama Hawaiʻi program.

“This initiative has a close fit with the concept of mālama and shows how that concept can be incorporated into and is vital to the visitor industry,” said Darragh Walshe, New Zealand country manager for Hawaiʻi Tourism Oceania. “Regenerative tourism is all about people caring, connecting, collaborating and learning about values important to the place they visit. This group has been here for just a few days, and they’ve already helped with beach cleanups, worked with and learned from several local nonprofit leaders, shared ideas with other students, and engaged in impactful, hands-on voluntourism experiences.”

“Our partnership with the Sea Cleaners began in 2019 with two cross-cultural exchanges – one in New Zealand and another in Hawaiʻi – and continues to thrive,” said Lindsey O’Neil, a New Zealand-based sales executive at Hawaiian Airlines who helped escort the youth ambassadors. “Their work is so important, and we're proud to team up with them and Hawaiʻi Tourism Oceania in protecting shorelines across Hawaiʻi, Australia and New Zealand.”

In addition to supporting nonprofits like the Sea Cleaners, Hawaiian Airlines has focused on encouraging guests to help protect Hawaiʻi by educating those arriving in the Hawaiian Islands on how to travel safely and responsibly via a Travel Pono (responsibly) in-flight video. The five-minute spot launched in September 2021 and airs before landing on all inbound transpacific flights.

“Today was inspiring and proof that every individual’s action matters. This week has been a joy, and we feel so fortunate to be able to play a role in fostering the next generation of eco-leaders,” O’Neil said.

Two Hawaiian Airlines pilots this week made history by becoming the first mother-daughter pilot team in the carrier’s 93-year history.

Captain Kamelia Zarka and her daughter, First Officer Maria Zarka flew the Pacific skies together on Sept. 1, sharing the flight deck of a Boeing 717 aircraft as they operated a series of Neighbor Island flights. The duo also personally welcomed guests onboard, took selfies with colleagues and encouraged young girls passing by to follow their dreams.

Image credit: Bryan Shirota

“Flying for Hawaiian Airlines with my daughter, side-by-side in the cockpit, was a dream come true for me. I always knew Maria would be a fantastic pilot – she’s always been brilliant and professional – but sitting next to her as she flew the plane with such skill and ease still blew me away,” Kamelia reflected.

Kamelia joined Hawaiian Airlines as a flight attendant in 1992 and became a pilot in 1999, which led her to be the first Tongan woman to captain a commercial airline. Maria, who flew with Republic Airlines in New Jersey for two years, was hired by Hawaiian Airlines in April 2022.

Image credit: Bryan Shirota

“Everybody always tells me how amazing it is to fly with my mom and today I got to experience that. She’s an amazing pilot and learning from her is learning from one of the best. Now I call her ‘Capt. Mom’,” Maria shared.

Image credit: Bryan Shirota

Maria added, “I feel fortunate to have a mom who cares so much and has worked hard to pave the way for other females and me as the first Tongan female to captain a commercial airline. And now it’s my turn. I’m looking forward to continuing my mom’s legacy while making my own mark as a Hawaiian Airlines pilot.”