Alaska Airlines acquires Hawaiian Airlines

[y_p_w]

They're saying that they'll keep the brands separate. Not sure how this is going to work since they both are big in the west coast to Hawaii market.

Alaska Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines in $1.9B deal; both brands to remain separate, CEOs say | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

UPDATE: 11:02 a.m.

www.staradvertiser.com

Alaska Air to acquire Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion

Alaska Air Group announced Sunday it has agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines for $1 billion in cash plus the assumption of $900 million in debt.

www.seattletimes.com

Alaska Air to acquire Hawaiian Airlines in $1.9B deal

The $1.9 billion deal will combine two West Coast-based rivals.

www.adn.com

 

[Pablo]

So either cheaper fares and lousy service or lousy fares and cheap service. It’s good to have choices

 

[levi]

They're saying that they'll keep the brands separate. Not sure how this is going to work since they both are big in the west coast to Hawaii market.

Alaska Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines in $1.9B deal; both brands to remain separate, CEOs say | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

UPDATE: 11:02 a.m.

www.staradvertiser.com

Alaska Air to acquire Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion

Alaska Air Group announced Sunday it has agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines for $1 billion in cash plus the assumption of $900 million in debt.

www.seattletimes.com

Alaska Air to acquire Hawaiian Airlines in $1.9B deal

The $1.9 billion deal will combine two West Coast-based rivals.

www.adn.com

Oh, the irony.

 

[dkryan]

From y_p_w’s linked Seattle Times article:

This! All day, everyday, every “merger” or “acquisition.”

“Airline mergers are notoriously difficult and expensive. They require the integration of complex flight booking and operational systems, and the smooth combining of disparate employee groups.

Enlarging a fleet with different airplane models adds to the complication.”

And kindly note how long the Alaska/Virgin America merger took to reach a culmination; seven years!

I wish them well.

 

[y_p_w]

From y_p_w’s linked Seattle Times article:

This! All day, everyday, every “merger” or “acquisition.”

“Airline mergers are notoriously difficult and expensive. They require the integration of complex flight booking and operational systems, and the smooth combining of disparate employee groups.

Enlarging a fleet with different airplane models adds to the complication.”

And kindly note how long the Alaska/Virgin America merger took to reach a culmination; seven years!

I wish them well.

They claim that they're going to be kept separate. What that means in terms of actual operation is uncertain.

 

[dbias]

Alaska has become an important hub with overflights of Russian airspace off the table.

 

[dkryan]

They claim that they're going to be kept separate. What that means in terms of actual operation is uncertain.

I understand.

But, what they claim and what becomes reality, assuming it’s even approved to begin with, will be interesting.

Note Alaska was quick to transition the Virgin America pilots from the ‘Bus to the noisy and cramped 737 in order to reduce costs. That was a merger, but trying to maintain two separate fleets puts you into a 100 knot headwind from the start.

I’m looking forward to reading the Aviation Week & Space Technology article on this acquisition. They’ll definitely get down into the weeds on the challenges and rewards of this move.

 

[fdcg27]

Both airlines probably needed to grow in order to remain players.
The days of lots of smaller airlines seem to have passed.
We've flown Alaska and found them to be better than the big 4. Based upon our experience, I'd select Alaska over any of the four, although American isn't bad. The sainted Delta is mediocre at best and none of the four are as good as a foreign carrier on international flights.
I hope that this merger will increase the reach and depth of the two carriers and provide some competition to the increasingly poor service provided by the big 4 carriers.
Just my experience as a leisure traveler flying a few times each year.

 

[Astro14]

Alaska has become an important hub with overflights of Russian airspace off the table.

Important hub to where? And for what travelers? Which airline?

You can get from SFO to anywhere in Asia, for example, and Australia and NZ, without overflying Russia.

Alaska, frankly, has very little through traffic for passengers and only modest cargo.

 

[y_p_w]

Alaska has become an important hub with overflights of Russian airspace off the table.

Alaska Airlines or Anchorage? It used to be an important stop when planes needed to refuel, but not these days with 8000 mile range.

The bigger issue with Russian overflights is between Europe and Asia.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Alaska Airlines doors a great job of connecting Seattle with the rest off the States and providing more options for the good people of other States such as Montana to have more travel options. I wish them well.

 

[k1xv]

My guess is, fewer scheduled flights, but with bigger aircraft.

Hope they keep the Boston to Honolulu non stop.

 

[y_p_w]

Alaska Airlines doors a great job of connecting Seattle with the rest off the States and providing more options for the good people of other States such as Montana to have more travel options. I wish them well.

Their big hubs are obviously Seattle and Portland. And they do have a lot of service to smaller airports, but I'm thinking much of it (especially in Alaska) is subsidized. Their Alaska service is obviously an important part of their history, but I doubt it make them much money without subsidies.

 

[c502cid]

I think Alaska is a pretty good airline, I'd fly them more if they had COS service.

 

[edyvw]

I think Alaska is a pretty good airline, I'd fly them more if they had COS service.

They had it a few years back.

 

[GON]

Two critical data points:
(1) Hawaiian and Alaska are direct competitors between the West Coast and Hawaii, although numerous other competitors, one less competitor

(2) Bigger news is wide body/ Asia flights for Alaska. American Airlines partnership with Alaska included both One World membership and the plan/ expectation for American to have Asian non-stops flights out of Seattle with Alaska Airline codeshares. American Airlines can't compete on international flights when any other airline flies the same route- this is a result of America's huge monthly interest service on its debt (twice the interest payment on passenger flight mile than United or Delta), and its industry high labor costs. Alaska is in a huge fight to maintain its dominance in Seattle and its strong position on the West Coast, against Delta which has a newer hub in Seattle. Expect Alaska to start Asian flights from SEA in the closer future.

On the operating as separate entities- this likely equates to Hawaiian and Alaska will fly under different operating certificates. One holding company, but two different operating certificates. Similar to how Buick and Chevrolet are separate corporations, operating under the General Motors holding company. The operating certificate is a really big deal, as that is what allows an airline to fly commercial flights under the FAA oversight. I would expect Hawaiian operating certificate way down the road will be inactivated, and all flights/ operations will be under Alaska Air- regardless of what the press release states.

Of note- be assured the federally elected officials from Hawaii will have huge perceived issues with this and will direct the Justice department to sue against the merger; certain protections and special conditions will be required to be met.

 

[LDB]

Will they be bringing back the convertible airplane?

 

[dbias]

Important hub to where? And for what travelers? Which airline?

You can get from SFO to anywhere in Asia, for example, and Australia and NZ, without overflying Russia.

Alaska, frankly, has very little through traffic for passengers and only modest cargo.

Starting around 15:00

 

[y_p_w]

Starting around 15:00

It's importance is minimal and in any case doesn't really affect Alaska Airlines. Anchorage in a good year services around 6 million passengers. The video you linked is over a year and a half old and highly speculative. No European airline has chosen to use Anchorage as a connection point between Europe and Asia. In fact, there are zero passenger flights between Anchorage and Asian airports. A couple of discount airlines have seasonal service between Frankfurt and Anchorage.

There was a time when it was an important refueling point, but that was well before the range of current aircraft. The infamous KAL007 flew from JFK-ANC and then was scheduled to go on to Seoul. That was 40 years ago.

It's been used as a cargo connection point for years, but that has nothing to do with the impracticality these days of Russian overflights. It's about using less fuel and loading more cargo. It's a very different dynamic than passenger flights, especially as a convenient cargo processing center.

Anchorage: the world’s cargo hub | Flightradar24 Blog

Anchorage, Alaska serves more than 8,000 cargo flights a month as the perfect way station between Asia and North America.

www.flightradar24.com

But again, what does any of that have to do with the Alaska Airlines purchase of Hawaiian Airlines?

 

[GON]

It's importance is minimal and in any case doesn't really affect Alaska Airlines. Anchorage in a good year services around 6 million passengers. The video you linked is over a year and a half old and highly speculative. No European airline has chosen to use Anchorage as a connection point between Europe and Asia. In fact, there are zero passenger flights between Anchorage and Asian airports. A couple of discount airlines have seasonal service between Frankfurt and Anchorage.

There was a time when it was an important refueling point, but that was well before the range of current aircraft. The infamous KAL007 flew from JFK-ANC and then was scheduled to go on to Seoul. That was 40 years ago.

It's been used as a cargo connection point for years, but that has nothing to do with the impracticality these days of Russian overflights. It's about using less fuel and loading more cargo. It's a very different dynamic than passenger flights, especially as a convenient cargo processing center.

Anchorage: the world’s cargo hub | Flightradar24 Blog

Anchorage, Alaska serves more than 8,000 cargo flights a month as the perfect way station between Asia and North America.

www.flightradar24.com

But again, what does any of that have to do with the Alaska Airlines purchase of Hawaiian Airlines?

New Pacific Airlines (formerly Northern Pacific)

The airline started operations flying between Las Vegas and Ontario, California due to the ongoing closure of Russian airspace and delays in certification from Korean and Japanese authorities. In the future, the airline plans to fly to destinations such as Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York City and Orlando from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Northern Pacific has no plans to compete with incumbents such as Japan Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Instead, Knackstedt likened the Northern Pacific model to ULCC Allegiant Air, which operates flights from secondary US airports to its Las Vegas (LAS) base. The Alaskan startup is looking to operate to underserved airports, promoting ANC stopovers and connections to Asia, allowing US passengers from smaller markets to avoid crowded hubs in the continental US.

When asked about the COVID-19 headwinds still affecting Asia, Knackstedt noted Japan has relaxed its restrictions. “There's a lot of pent-up demand in Korea. There's a lot of pent-up demand in Japan and, when we were doing some research, we found that Alaska seems to be on a lot of people's bucket list,” he said.

Inbound passengers from Asia would clear customs at Anchorage and then fly to their destination in the US as domestic passengers.

Alaska Startup Northern Pacific Eyes US-Asia Routes Via Anchorage | Aviation Week Network

The carrier wants to connect passengers in secondary US markets with Japan and South Korea.

aviationweek.com