New ‘robust’ Hawaiian-Alaska airlines flies aircraft too big for Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi

The officially merged Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines have expanded Hawaiian’s former 64-aircraft fleet into a combined fleet of 350 passenger airplanes, now offering Hawaiʻi residents non-stop or one-stop flights to 128 cities and destinations like Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., Toronto, New Orleans, Costa Rica and Miami.

While the combined airlines’ air routes give Hawaiʻi residents three times more travel options and ongoing inter-island service at current levels, this new “robust” air service will not, at least for the foreseeable future, include renewing direct air service to Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kapalua or establishing air service to Hāna, said Joe Sprague, Hawaiian Airlines chief executive officer, who spoke online Wednesday with Neighbor Island journalists.

Instead, the airline will cooperate and support Mokulele Airlines as it provides air service to Maui County’s remote locations, he said.

The same aircraft and airport restrictions apply to Maui County airports at Kapalua and Hāna, he said.

“We know that air service is critically important for every resident of Hawaiʻi, and, as the hometown airline here in Hawaiʻi, we want to be part of the solution for providing reliable service to Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi,” he said. “And so we have been engaging with Mokulele (Airlines) regularly.”

Mokulele flies to Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kapalua, Hāna and other destinations in the state. But, as one journalist pointed out, residents of those communities are at the mercy of a single airline that determines airfares and flight schedules without competition from other air carriers.

Sprague said Hawaiian-Alaska has an interline agreement with Mokulele and has offered to be a resource to the smaller regional airline. “We want to stay close with them and be a resource and do what we can to help them enhance their service,” he said.

Years ago, Hawaiian Airlines deployed ATR 42 aircraft to provide passenger service between Honolulu and Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i as well as its statewide ATR freighter cargo service. But the freighter service with ATR 72 aircraft was suspended in November 2020 and passenger service with ATR 42 aircraft was halted Jan. 14, 2021. Service between Honolulu and Kapalua was suspended in March 2020. At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe decline in Neighbor Island travel was blamed for the termination of that service.

In a nearly hourlong interview, Sprague covered a variety of other merger and air travel topics.

As far frequent flier HawaiianMiles, those are protected at a 1:1 ratio. “The miles are absolutely safe and going to be worth more than ever,” he said. “The reality is that by bringing together these two (airline) networks, the number of destinations, the number of places that HawaiianMiles members will be able to redeem their miles to travel to, will now go up exponentially. And, so the value of the miles that somebody is holding today in the HawaiianMiles program just got much, much better at about 2:30 a.m. Hawai‘i time this morning (Wednesday).”

And, he said, HawaiianMiles can be transferred into the Alaska miles plan that can be used to fly anywhere in the oneworld Alliance global network.

“So really, there’s a significant advantage for HawaiianMiles members to have many more destinations around the globe that you can use your HawaiianMiles on,” he said.

On the expansion of air routes, he said that Hawaiian and Alaska have “very complementary” networks.

“There’s hardly any overlap between our two existing route networks,” he said, pointing out Alaska’s concentration in the Pacific Northwest and West Coast and Hawaiian’s emphasis on inter island air travel, as well as Asia and the Pacific region. The networks “just fit really well together,” translating that into widely expanded air service on a single airline.

Because of the merger, Hawaiian will be part of Alaska’s membership in the oneworld alliance a global network of airlines, Sprague said.

For more information about the airlines’ merger and impacts on customers, visit here.

When asked about the cost of airline tickets, he said “Alaska itself has always been focused on providing value to our customers in the best way that we can,” and the merged airline will be launching its Huaka‘i (meaning “voyage”) program.

That program will include discounts and benefits exclusively for Hawai‘i residents, and, in coming weeks, HawaiianMiles members will be able to sign up free of charge for the new program. Hawai‘i residents will receive an email with a link to sign up for a free membership.

The program will include exclusive benefits when traveling interisland, including 10% off one booking per quarter and a free checked bag. Huaka‘i members who are Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard cardmembers will receive 20% off one interisland booking per quarter and their existing credit card benefit of two free checked bags.

Starting this month, travelers will be able to buy tickets for most Hawaiian flights on alaskaair.com and buy tickets for Alaska flights on hawaiianairlines.com. Soon the merged airlines will offer the option to purchase Hawaiian international flights to destinations such as Japan, South Korea and Australia on alaskaair.com.

Sprague said the Huaka‘i program benefits will have the effect of bringing down the cost of air travel for Hawai‘i residents.

As for inter-island travel, “our commitment is that we will maintain robust air service to the Neighbor Islands at levels essentially what you see today,” he said.

He acknowledged that air service is essential for Neighbor Island residents.

“There, you know, no other way to get around within Hawai‘i, and then, depending on the island, to even leave Hawai‘i and go elsewhere, to the continent, or elsewhere, other than air service,” Sprague said. “So, we do actually have a deep appreciation for how important the air service to the Neighbor Islands is.”

The frequency of flights is subject to demand that fluctuates depending on the day of the week or seasonally, he said.

“Airlines adjust to demand,” he said. But, there are unique aspects to scheduling Neighbor Island flights that are well understood by Hawaiian Airlines, and “we will not be changing that approach to scheduling Neighbor Island flying.”

He noted that Alaska Airlines formed a 16-member community advisory board in Hawai‘i with “super regular fliers,” and at least one member from every island, who understand the air service needs in the islands.

“We’ve already had three meetings with them, and they’re providing tremendous input to us,” he said. “The purpose of this advisory board is for them to hold us accountable for how we’re providing service to residents of Hawai‘i. And, one of the important things they will do, and they’re already doing it, by the way, is provide feedback on schedules.”

One recent feedback stemmed from a question about not having a late night flight back to Maui so that a flier could get dinner in Honolulu and still get back home the same night, he said. “Those are things that the advisory board will provide direct input to us on, and that’s another way that we will sort of keep ourselves plugged into what the Neighbor Island travel needs are here in Hawai‘i.”

Sprague said some of the operational advantages of the merger include new resources that will benefit customers.

“One of them is around technology,” he said. “Websites, mobile apps, those have become critically important to travelers. People have gotten used to having information about their flights, about their trips at their fingertips and to get regular updates and be able to make changes easily. Those are important to air travel consumers and we get that.”

The merged airlines will have a single technology platform that will bring greater benefits for customers, he said.

When asked about job retention for Hawaiian Airlines employees, Sprague said Hawaiian has about 7,400 employees, 80% of whom are frontline personnel with union representation. “Those union positions here in Hawai‘i will be retained, and that is a commitment we will absolutely be sticking to as we move forward.”

The remaining 20% of employees, referred to as about 1,400 non-contract workers, have roles that, “in some cases, are duplicative of existing roles at Alaska Airlines, and so for the last several months, what we have done is conduct a very careful assessment to determine what would the go-forward organizational structure need to look like to provide the right level of support here in Hawai‘i for the ongoing operations of Hawaiian Airlines.”

“As part of that assessment, by the way, we met individually with all 1,400 employees so that we could learn about their backgrounds, their experience, their qualifications and their interests,” he said. “And then we’ve done a lot of organizational design work to determine the right structure, the right set up to support the rest of the operation and the other employees here in Hawai‘i.”

Most of those 1,400 workers will be offered some sort of position in the combined airlines, he said. Some employees in duplicative positions will not be retained.

Sprague did not disclose the number of those employees.

The merger confirmation comes as the US Department of Transportation has given Alaska Airlines permission to close on its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, after the carriers agreed to maintain key Hawaiʻi routes and adopt consumer protections. This exemption allows the carriers, which are respectively the fifth and 10th largest domestic airlines, to finalize their merger while maintaining separate operations until DOT rules on their transfer application.

In addition, Alaska and Hawaiian will need to maintain “robust” levels of service for critical Hawaiian inter-island passenger and cargo service and the continental United States, ensure competitive access to Honolulu airport, offer fee-free family seating, lower costs for service members and their families, and provide alternative compensation for delays and cancellations, according to the agreement.

The exemption order and agreement can be found here. More information about the combined organization will be shared in the coming days. 

Once granted a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, the two airlines will function as a single operation with two public-facing brands, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines.