United Airlines has a much broader worldwide route network than other U.S. airlines, and so must deal with far more regulations and local conditions. The United safety video says “Flight attendants will ask you to stow devices for certain international destinations.”
There are some international destinations that have limited use of inflight internet while in their airspace, and that have even limited use of seatback entertainment. But the particular restriction on device usage that most interests me is an international destination that the FAA (and Postal Service, FCC, FDIC and several other federal agencies) actually treats as domestic: Bucholz Army Airfield on Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands.
. @LukeW9257 hey now Luke, I'll try and post more here. Mostly Airport, Aircraft and Aerospace stuff here. (pictured is PKWA in the Pacific) pic.twitter.com/7wjNmLTlQp
— Runway Wayne LLC (@RunwayWayne) September 21, 2022
United’s Island Hopper route was launched in 1968 as Air Micronesia in partnership with Continental Airlines. Continental Micronesia became part of United Airlines with the 2012 merger. The 737 has four pilots and flight attendants receive duty time exemption from the FAA. Mechanics and parts travel with the aircraft. Short runways mean fire trucks are ready to cool brakes and tires after landing. The front rows of coach collapse to accommodate medevac stretchers.
The “Island Hopper” route connects Honolulu and Guam via intermediary islands, often operating as one of the only links for air travel and cargo in those remote locations and delivers mail and medical supplies.
The total time from Honolulu to Guam, including ground time, is about 16 hours. The Honolulu – Majuro flight is the longest at over four hours. Through passengers can deplane at each stop except for Kwajalein Atolls. In fact, photography is not permitted and window shades must be closed on the ground.
Bucholz Army Airfield on Kwajalein is restricted military installation. In order to set foot on Kwajalein, one must have prior military authorization and a local sponsor – something ordinary travelers don’t possess. Passengers without this clearance cannot be boarded on the segment destined for KWA.
Eareckson Air Station on Shmeya Island in the Aleutians and Bucholz Army Airfield on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands are some other alternatives closer to the Western Pacific than Honolulu. pic.twitter.com/UZIZdZED9M
— Kartuli Cthulhu (@UnspeakablChaos) August 3, 2022
For those simply transiting onward to other islands, Kwajalein is treated as a technical stop only. The aircraft will land and service at Bucholz Field, but unauthorized travelers must remain on board – effectively, they have “not entered” the Marshall Islands or the base. This procedure ensures no un-cleared person sets foot on the sensitive installation. Additional restrictions during the KWA stop are in place due to base security protocols.
- Typically, transit passengers must stay in their seats or a designated area on the plane while refueling and handling take place.
- Only those passengers authorized to enter Kwajalein (such as base personnel or contractors ending their journey at KWA) may deplane under escort.
- There is no open terminal to wander – the airfield is inside a gated military area.
- Photography out the windows or of the base infrastructure is generally discouraged or forbidden, as is any attempt to exit the aircraft without permission.
Credit: U.S. Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll
Bucholz Army Airfield is unique because it exists entirely within a U.S. military installation on foreign soil. Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, but under the Compact of Free Association the U.S. leases several islands for defense purposes. Kwajalein Island (where Bucholz AAF is located) is one of 11 islets leased by the U.S. as part of the Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. (The local Marshallese population is not allowed to live on Kwajalein Island; many reside on nearby Ebeye Island, with Kwajalein is reserved for the U.S. Army and its contractors.)
- Roi-Namur island on the north end of the atoll houses several giant radar domes that monitor missile tests and track objects in space.
- The U.S. periodically launches unarmed ICBMs from California to impact near Kwajalein, where sensors measure their accuracy, and intercept tests (launching missiles from Kwaj to hit incoming targets or vice versa) take place as well.
- The equatorial location (9° North latitude) of Kwajalein Atoll is advantageous for some space launches. SpaceX established a launch pad on Omelek Island (an uninhabited leased islet) to launch its early Falcon 1 rockets and achieved its first ever successful orbital launch there in 2008.
Took a ferry tonight to Ebeye, Marshall Islands. It’s less than a sq mile and about 9,000 people live there. Ferry runs about 25-30 times a day from Kwajalein Island pic.twitter.com/c7jc78pwgR
— Denis Beganovic (@Beganovic2025) March 5, 2025
The base does not entertain tourists and the only hotel (“Kwaj Lodge”) is for transient workers or official visitors only. Apparently, though, exceptions can be made to allow passengers to disembark during long mechanic delays of the flight.
So @united posted about the Island Hopper on Instagram. Not only have I flown it, but I got stuck on the one island that only authorized personnel are allowed on, Kwajalein. pic.twitter.com/tNGXDKOOOF
— Stephan Segraves (@ssegraves) September 3, 2018
I’ve been there! Such a cool place! An hour later I’d be stuck in Kwajalein for 12 hours with @WandrMe pic.twitter.com/HITj1NLOS0
— Stephan Segraves (@ssegraves) September 5, 2021
If you don’t have an emergency landing and get a passport stamp in Kwajalein, then it doesn’t really count If you see the onboard mechanic, Sherman (“the Sherminator”), please say hello! pic.twitter.com/R5UDhtLPJw
— Michael (@real_jetsetr) January 19, 2018
The secrecy and remoteness of Kwajalein Atoll has bred theories of additional activities going on at the destination. Some passengers find the brief stop tense. Passengers report soldiers on the tarmac, guarding the plane as it refuels. And it’s sometimes referred to as “Area 51 of the Pacific.” The existence of giant radar spheres, missile interceptors and launch pads leads to theories of weather control devices and UFO tracking.
The existence of any military (as in state-sponsored mass murder) is a condemnation of our nature as a species.
War — what is it good for — absolutely nothing.
Instead of just complaining I’ll offer a path forward. We, Americans, need to completely disabuse ourselves of the notion that the military has prestige in any way shape or form. There are people in flyover and Southern states who grow up aiming to be in the military. This is a dangerous and preposterous life path. We need to tell people the military is for complete and utter losers. The current President may be a loser in many ways but he was right in saying the military was for suckers and losers. We need fewer suckers and losers in this world — ideally zero — and then we can end all war.
War — what is it good for — absolutely nothing.
If you guys want a step-by-step on UA154, I did it and write a huge thing. Don’t know if Gary will let me post the link but it’s a really fun read about things that could have gone south, and the military guy beside me being stuck in his middle seat working on cool space stuff. LOL.
mikertw.com/island-hopping-ua-154/
This is a top-tier av-geek post. Thank you for compiling and sharing, Gary.
Personally, I hope to visit more of the ‘beachy parts’ of the Pacific. Have had incredible experiences in Hawaii, French Polynesia, Fiji, Easter Island, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. It’s not included here, but I’ve always wanted to make it to Palau (specifically to see Ngerukewid) and American Samoa (for Ofu Beach)–has anyone been to either of those?
@Unintimidated – What is it good for? – It protects you from those who would throw you in a hole for writing such crap if you happened to live in certain countries. They are even willing to protect you, not that you deserve it. Because the mentally ill and those with the thought process of a 13 year-old deserve protection.
It’s also really good at killing Nazis.
Been there on business, done that. Stayed about 3 days at the Kwaj Lodge. Fun times.
I ignored @Unintimidated to begin with because that commentary was just silly. Never forget how our service members put their lives on the line to ensure global security, peace and prosperity. Without them, their deterrence, and leverage, it would be a more dangerous world.
I may not agree with folks like @C_M on everything, but he is correct here: The Allies, especially the US military, were indeed good at killing Nazis. May there never be a need for them to have to do that again, please. But, rest assured, they’re duty-bound and ready to go, if needed.
Besides, think of all the cool technology, specifically in aviation, that has come out of the military. Lots of jobs, too. And many of our best pilots are veterans, too. C’mon folks. Be better.
C_M is right. As long as there’s bullies in the world, they will be trying to kill, steal from or enslave the unprepred or weak.
Mr. Unintimidated is one of those unprepared and weak.
@Mike. Just read your trip report. Very cool. Thanks for sharing!!!
@Lighting1 — I don’t know what @Unintimidated’s deal is, but if we were to take the most generous interpretation of what he’s hoping for, I can’t imagine it’s anarchy–it’s hopefully something like reasonable restraint on the civilian-led military, like swearing oaths to the Constitution, not the specific leaders, not merely ‘just following orders’ but like honorable service, etc. You know, basically, not abusing power. Yet, we should find out real soon in the USA at least whether those ideals hold, or whether there’s a manufactured crisis, invoking of the Insurrection Act (1807), and a further consolidating of power in the ‘unitary’ executive. Time will tell on all that. But, disbanding the military? That’s nuts. If we devolve into a quasi-dictatorship, the Generals are the ones who will determine whether we have a king or not. (See the Philippines, South Korea, recently.) Or not, whatever.
The Island Hopper is definitely on the to-do list…
I’ve done some very fun and random Pacific routes like IPC-PPT and RAR-PPT but… the island hopper has evaded me
Very interesting, and in the Pacific War the island was not only the site of a major battle but became an important US anchorage and later the headquarters for the atomic bomb tests. And all this on a bit of land 4000 x 800 meters. But it is no surprise that there are conspiracy theories about the place. Even when the research is completely open like HAARP is people find ways of saying “they” are doing “something”. I understand our lovely government has now written a web page blaming by innuendo the Chinese for a lab leak causing Covid, even though there is no evidence given. Cheaper than keeping all those pesky public health workers around, I guess.
Gary, this article of yours is very, very, very, very, very incorrect. Over the years at FlyerTalk I kept correcting many posters again, again, again, again and again. Any tourists acceptable to the Republic of the Marshall Islands can freely book a ticket to KWA and then get on/off the plane there. It’s just that you’re not allowed to remain on Kwajalein Island the U.S. Army base. You must take the ferry to/from the civilian (slummish) Ebeye, where there’s like one lone hotel that can’t accommodate the whole 737 plane load if the I.H. were to be stranded there. KWA is also a civilian airport used by Air Marshall Islands for often-less-than-daily flights to/from neighboring islands and atolls. Same US military restrictions apply. Ebeye is one of two islands that has a civilian ZIP code in the Marshall Islands (Ebeye, MH 96970), the other being the capital Majuro, MH 96960.
In the 1980s the route also included Johnston Island and I remember the strict admonitions to keep our window blinds down … very stern folks around the plane.