The integration of Hawaiian Airlines into Alaska Air Group is in full swing as the carrier now shares space with Alaska Airlines at San Francisco International airport.
Hawaiian confirmed on 4 December that its operations and check-in counter at the California hub have moved into Terminal 1 alongside those of Alaska, starting a phase where the carriers will “work together to optimise operations” at a series of West Coast airports.
Alaska Air, parent of Seattle-based Alaska, closed in September its acquisition of Hawaiian – a $1.9 billion deal that will see Alaska launch transpacific flights with its first widebody jets.
The carriers will continue flying under separate operating certificates and brands, but will eventually merge under a single operating ticket and launch a new combined loyalty programme.
San Francisco is the first of six airports that will see the carriers intertwine operations before the end of 2025, including Sacramento International, Southern California’s Ontario International, Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International and Los Angeles International airports.
The airlines’ respective websites and reservation systems will remain separate until they adopt a single passenger service system in 2026.
Both carriers have well-established operations in San Francisco, where Alaska claims to be the second-largest carrier. Hawaiian flies daily to Honolulu and Kahului using Airbus A330s and A321s.
Combined, the carriers will operate four daily flights between San Francisco and Hawaii this month.
The airline tie-up comes with complications, namely in the form of operating a mixed fleet. That represents a reversal since Alaska sold the last 10 of its A321s to American Airlines in October 2023.
Alaska recently acknowledged that, due to delays in the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification of the Boeing 737 Max 10, it may consider “executing and expanding” on Hawaiian’s A321neo purchase rights.
”It remains too early to predict our future fleet strategy now that we operate a mixed fleet again,” Alaska said in late October. ”We are familiar with the A321 and its capabilities and our future fleet design will be influenced by Boeing’s ability to restart Max production and certify the Max 10 aircraft on schedule.”
