Every day, hundreds of people in Hawaiʻi need blood transfusions — the most common procedure at hospitals across the state. And every day, those patients depend on Blood Bank of Hawai’i and its longtime partnership with Hawaiian Air Cargo to move lifesaving blood products quickly and efficiently throughout the islands.  

As the sole supplier of blood for 18 civilian hospitals in Hawaiʻi, as well as Guam’s largest hospital, Blood Bank of Hawai’i relies on our GoldStreak Package Express next-flight-out service to expedite shipments between its headquarters on Oʻahu and Neighbor Island hospitals. GoldStreak shipping, which offers guaranteed expedited cargo service without prebooking, is available on more than 150 interisland flights every day.   

Hawaiian Airlines and Blood Bank of Hawaii teams have been working together for decades. (Photo: Blood Bank of Hawaii.)“We are unique among other blood banks in the United States in that we are completely dependent on air transportation for the delivery of equipment, supplies, samples, as well as blood,” said Kim-Ahn Nguyen, MD, PhD CEO of Blood Bank of Hawaii, which celebrates its 85th anniversary this year and has been partnering with Hawaiian Air Cargo for decades.  

Doctors rely on Blood Bank of Hawaii to ensure their hospitals are appropriately supplied for both routine medical needs and emergencies. “All doctors know is that when they’re in surgery and they make the call to transfuse, the blood starts flowing,” Nguyen said. “We are like a safety net or utility.”  

In addition to shipping blood products to the islands’ hospitals, BBH relies on our GoldStreak service to carry out community blood drives in Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island. “Hospitals in the Neighbor Islands use 20 percent of our red cell blood supply, and the communities take it very seriously and want to contribute,” Nguyen said. Every month, the blood bank runs a multiday community blood drive on a Neighbor Island — requiring coordination between the blood bank and our cargo teams to ship everything from testing equipment to scales to blood bags to snacks for donors. “And all day, we are doing what we call ‘blood runs’ to the Neighbor Island airport, and the blood that was just collected flies right back to our headquarters,” she said. 

“We work together, cargo and blood bank, all day, every day. We know them by name and by face. And they know us by name and by face.”  — Kim-Anh Nguyen, MD, PhD CEO of Blood Bank of Hawaii

BBH’s shipments also support patients undergoing lifesaving treatments. Nguyen recalls one patient whose cancer treatment required daily infusions of platelets. “Platelets have a very short shelf life, so those shipments had to go like clockwork every day, seven days a week for months at a time,” she said. “Every day, those staff at cargo literally hold someone’s life in their hands.” 

During natural disasters and other emergencies, BBH tries to anticipate a hospital’s need for more blood before the medical staff even ask for it. When devastating wildfires swept through Lahaina in August 2023, BBH’s hospital distribution team monitored the late-night news and alerted Hawaiian Air Cargo to be ready to ship blood to Maui Memorial Medical Center on the first flight. “By the morning, the calls started coming from the hospital, saying ‘We need blood now,” and it was already on the way,” Nguyen said.  

“We don’t really know how difficult it is to run a cargo operation, and we don’t have to know because it works,” Nguyen said. “All we know is cargo is there when they say it’s going to be there. The blood is shipped when we expect it to be shipped, so we don’t worry about anything except getting that blood where it needs to be.” 

(Top photo: Hawaiian Air Cargo)

 Learn more

Blood Bank of Hawaii: Find locations to give blood throughout Hawaiʻi or become a volunteer. 

GoldStreak Package Express: Check out our guarantees for premium shipping throughout our Alaska and Hawaiian Air Cargo domestic network.

 About Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo 

Together, Alaska and Hawaiian Air Cargo reach 110-plus cargo destinations around the world, including cities across Asia and the South Pacific – and coming in spring 2026, Rome and London! With more than 90 years of experience carrying vital shipments to remote communities, our air cargo teams share deep connections to the communities where we live, work and fly.