Fifteen months ago, we asked whether the Alaska-Hawaiian acquisition was connecting the dots between Alaska and JetBlue. This week, it was reported that JetBlue has hired advisers to explore a sale, and Alaska was specifically scenario-planned as one of three potential buyers. For Hawaii travelers, it’s a question about who controls your flights, your miles, and your access to the islands going forward.
Hawaii as Alaska and JetBlue connector.
Alaska is strong and growing on the West Coast and now in the Pacific too because of Hawaiian. JetBlue is strong in Boston and New York. There is little overlap, which is a key to why this keeps coming back into the conversation.
Alaska is also neck-deep in absorbing Hawaiian, and that changes this considerably. The operational merger date is April 22, 2026. That is not some minor back-office milestone. It is the point at which the two airlines cease operating separately and the reality of the acquisition becomes even more visible to customers, employees, and loyalty members.
Alaska makes sense on paper, but the timing and financial equation perhaps less so. Alaska isn’t sitting around looking for another project. It is trying to finish one of the biggest and most consequential airline acquisitions in Hawaii’s history without further breaking the product, labor relationships, operations, or the loyalty base.
Hawaiian was an easier version. When Alaska acquired Hawaiian, it was absorbing a small, niche Pacific carrier with 61 aircraft, 10 million passengers a year, and a regional island-focused network.
JetBlue, by contrast, carried nearly 40 million passengers last year, operates nearly 300 aircraft, and serves over 100 destinations, including transatlantic routes. It runs focus cities at JFK and Boston, two of the most operationally complex and expensive airports in the country. That is not just a bigger version of the same problem but a different category of challenge entirely.
Alaska is in its second year of visibly struggling through the Hawaiian integration. Loyalty chaos, booking system failures, and labor friction. It has not yet demonstrated that it can fully absorb what it has already bought. The idea that it could take on something three to four times the size simultaneously is a question nobody in today’s coverage is asking, but should be.
What a JetBlue deal would actually mean for Hawaii travelers.
JetBlue used to have a practical tie into Hawaii through Hawaiian, and that link is now gone. The booking and points side ended last September, the final travel cutoff is March 31, and JetBlue never built anything to replace it. For East Coast customers who liked JetBlue, Hawaiian was a useful bridge.
If Alaska buys JetBlue, that East Coast customer base folds into Mileage Plan, and more island-related loyalty power concentrates under one airline than has ever existed. If United buys JetBlue instead, Alaska loses the opportunity, and United strengthens its own Hawaii position.
Alaska has the cleanest regulatory path forward by far. Minimal overlap, no Big Three concentration issues, and a DOJ already letting deals through. United has the harder road.
Beat of Hawaii called this 15 months ago.
We looked at the Alaska-JetBlue connection back in December 2024 in Does The Hawaiian Merger Connect The Dots Between Alaska And JetBlue?. The argument then was that Alaska and Hawaiian together gave one airline group the West Coast and the Pacific side of the map, while JetBlue held a meaningful East Coast customer base that neither side had on its own.
United is the more financially logical buyer here. From here, the question is more direct: if JetBlue gets sold, which airline ends up with one more lever over how Hawaii travelers book, connect, earn miles, and stay loyal?
Would an Alaska-JetBlue deal change anything for you when booking Hawaii flights, or at this point, do you care less about the airline and more about price and schedule?
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We need a good East coast based airline like Jet Blue/Alaska Airlines
Flights from Buffalo NY To LAX ,San Diego etc!
Yeah, trying to get any kind of footprint on the Hawaiian market is pretty much out of the question for all three of the major carriers that is lockdown by a Alaska in Hawaii and they are not going to make any kind of leeway and acquiring JetBlue will not have any impact in the Hawaiian market
I find this story funny. A merger between Alaska and JetBlue would have zero impact on Hawaii. The integration of the two airlines is going about as well as expected when you merge two airlines. If Alaska doesn’t buy JetBlue and any of the big three do such as United, it will place Alaska in a vulnerable position being the last possible airline partner for the big three so look for American or Delta to buy them out. Having said that, a merger between Alaska and JetBlue doesn’t create a competitive national airline since both lack mid-continent hubs. Without a midcontinent hub, their cost struture will be high and uncompetitive. And setting up a hub is neither easy nor cheap and expect one of the other airlines to try to match them on price and schedule to drive them out.
Your not a conspiracy theorist if it’s true.
Former Chairman Virgin America? AA exec, (and SMU business school graduate) Don Carty. Sold to AA proxy Alaska. Don Carty goes to next? Yep, Hawaiian, purchased again by AA proxy Alaska. (Btw, AA former Chairman was Parker, another SMU Business school grad)
Jet Blue was the former east coast proxy for AA, but denied a tie up by the DOJ, gets courted by UA.
AA will push Alaska to get JetBlue back into the one World family.
Whether that’s a good idea is another story.
Side note: UA Chairman has been a large donor for the last 5 years. Greasing those wheels.
If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck. It’s a duck folks.
But I put my money on United. They need JFK.
UA can grease all the wheels it wants, but even if the DOJ doesn’t try to stop a UA buyout of JetBlue, the states of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut will. They were parties to the previous cases arguing in court such a merger will drive up fares to their residents and thus is unlawful.
Point taken on the states, but cases still go to US District Courts. Keep in mind the newest judges are kind of making the law up as they go. So that is a risk too.
I personally think United benefits better with a code share relationship. Gets access to the routes, does not carry Jet Blue’s cost structure or high cost routes to service.
I am not sure there is a good suitor right now for Jet Blue.
JetBlue is nearly $10 billion in debt and hasn’t made a profit since 2019.
Nobody wants JetBlue even if they were in a position to buy them.
In our case it probably won’t make any difference what happens with regards to any kind of Alaska/Hawaiian/JetBlue merger. After reading your article today about Alaska and their credit card profits and margin, and the continued dissatisfaction of many old Hawaiian Travelers and residents, I think they have their hands full. Personally, would prefer that United buy JetBlue.
It would be a challenging road ahead for federal government approval, but United has a long time, pre-statehood, footprint and experience in serving Hawaii, and can create the kind of broad connectivity internationally as well. Aloha to all!
I am not sure this is the right time or the right place for this. Alaska is trying to absorb Hawaiian and launch international service.
Alaska has tied in well with One World and American. Clearly tying Jet Blue into the mix upsets the American tie in. Is it worth it?
The only time this is serious is if United moves in and tries to take hold on Jet Blue’s clients. Then that may force Alaska into the game. United getting bigger and more dominant on the east coast might force Alaska.
A plus – Jet Blue mostly flies Airbus. Alaska has inherited Hawaiian’s Airbus aircraft and has no idea what to do about it. This might be a plus – same aircraft type.
But as the BoH notes, Boston and New York are two costly airports. Not sure either really fits into Alaska’s plans. Alaska needs a hub somewhere in the middle, not necessarily on the east coast.
And, as I noted, this impacts the One World and American relationship.
I used to book JetBlue to the West Coast and then connect on Hawaiian. That option disappearing already changed how I plan Hawaii trips, and the airline I pick. This would be an interesting mix if it pans out