Alaska Airlines completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines on Sept. 18. Alaska Airlines is promising customers the ability to purchase flights on both websites, and more options for redeeming miles on international routes. The U.S. Transportation Department is requiring the airlines maintain service to Alaska and Hawaii’s rural communities.
Alaska Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.
But what do we know about what the deal means for travelers in Hawaii and Alaska? Scott McMurren, who writes the Alaska Travelgram newsletter, said the deal has benefits for Alaskans.
Scott McMurren: I think that the big benefit for Alaskans is access to Hawaiian’s international routes. Pago Pago in American Samoa, they also go to Tahiti, Auckland and Sydney. And then also, Hawaiian flies to four airports in Japan, and also to Seoul, South Korea. Those are, to me, the nuggets of this Hawaiian deal for Alaskans.
Ava White: Do you have any insight on what the potential downsides for Alaskans might be?
SM: I think that there’s a possibility of some dilution of that reward pool. And this goes even without the Hawaiian purchase. Frequent flier miles in general, and Alaska Airlines miles and Hawaiian miles in particular, are a depreciating asset. It’s like driving a new car off the lot. I think that this may serve Alaska’s corporate ambitions nicely, but it goes towards diluting the rewards going forward, in a general way.
AW: How might this impact tourism in Alaska?
SM: Just as it offers more options for us to go south, it also offers more options for Pacific Islanders and those in the South Pacific to come north. If you talk about tourism in Alaska, you gotta talk about the cruise numbers, and the airlift goes primarily to support those big numbers. You’re really talking about, you know, moving cruise passengers in and moving cruise passengers out.
AW: In Hawaii, the stakes of the deal are much higher. Residents are worried about potentially higher ticket costs and losing inter-island routes when the transportation department protections expire in 2030.
Hawaiian’s CEO, Joe Sprague, told Hawaii Public Radio the deal will preserve thousands of union jobs, and the majority of non-union workers will “receive some form of offer to continue forward with the company.”
I spoke with Hawaii Public Radio reporter Catherine Cruz, who’s been covering this issue and met with Hawaiian’s CEO earlier this week. She said Hawaiians are apprehensive about the acquisition.
Catherine Cruz: We have seen many airlines go out of business. And it’s not pretty, you know, from the loss of jobs with pilots and flight attendants and ground crew or cargo, you know, call centers, it’s tough. And as an island state, we depend on our harbors and our airports. There are, they are our lifelines. So whenever any of our airlines are in trouble financially, you know, we get worried.
Many of our workers head to the neighbor islands for construction jobs. So any loss of service is a big one. There’s also concern about folks [who] often fly to Honolulu for medical reasons, for doctor’s appointments, that kind of thing. So we really are the lifeline.
AW: Alaska Airlines has said it will keep the Hawaiian brand, what’s holding Alaska Airlines to this commitment?
CC: The regulators have weighed in, our governor has weighed in. A lot of folks have expressed the desire to keep our brand, just because it reflects a lot of the culture here in Hawaii. But we are nervous because we do have outside companies swoop in, and they do make changes. We just have to hold them, hold their feet to the fire.
AW: Honolulu is already bustling with tourism. Do you think that this could strain resources more?
CC: Obviously the hoteliers want to see their hotels filled, maybe residents don’t want to see 10 million visitors, like what we saw just before the pandemic. So, yeah, there needs to be a balance. There is an effort to try and manage the visitor numbers. So you know, you have to strike a balance between providing the transportation of service between the different islands and keeping our economy pumping.
Ava White reports on economics and hosts the statewide morning news at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at awhite@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8445. Read more about Ava here.
