Hawaiian Airlines is facing yet another leadership shakeup. Just a year after Alaska Airlines took over, the airline’s CEO is stepping down, leaving travelers and employees wondering what’s next for Hawaii’s iconic carrier.
Joe Sprague, the longtime Alaska executive who briefly served as Hawaiian’s stabilizing hand, will retire this fall. We recently spoke with Joe and specifically asked about his future. At that time, he gave no indication whatsoever that retirement was on the horizon, which makes today’s announcement all the more surprising. Alaska announced today that Diana Birkett Rakow will become the new CEO of Hawaiian Airlines on October 29.
How long that position will last is unclear, as we had previously been told that the position of Hawaii Airlines CEO was an interim one, pending the full integration of island legacy Hawaiian Airlines into Alaska Air.
Why this leadership change is happening now.
When Alaska purchased Hawaiian in 2024, Sprague was brought in to guide the airline through its most uncertain stage. He had spent decades at Alaska and Horizon and was well-known within the Air Group. At Hawaiian, he was tasked with keeping operations steady while the merger worked toward a single FAA certificate and while more than 6,600 employees waited to see what the future would bring.
Beat of Hawaii readers may recall Sprague’s first remarks last year, when he confirmed Hawaiian would continue running separately for at least 12 to 18 months before being fully absorbed. That statement gave employees and flyers some clarity during a confusing period. Earlier this year, we quoted Sprague again when he openly acknowledged the challenge of blending Hawaiian’s Airbus aircraft with Alaska’s Boeing fleet. He didn’t sugarcoat it, and readers appreciated his honesty.
By July, it was clear that Hawaiian’s decision-making was already moving north. We reported that leadership roles in Honolulu were being reshaped to fit Alaska’s structure. Sprague presided over that transition, but his role was always meant to be temporary. With the single operating certificate expected later this year, Sprague now says it’s a natural time to step aside.
Who is Diana Birkett Rakow?
Rakow steps into the job with a different skill set than Sprague. Her most recent title was Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Sustainability at Alaska Airlines, where she led communications, government relations, cultural outreach, and sustainability efforts. She has been active in Hawaii and Alaska for years through Alaska’s community programs, but this will be her first time leading an airline outright.
Her academic background includes chemistry at Harvard and dual master’s degrees in public health and public administration at the University of Washington. Before joining Alaska, she held senior roles at Kaiser Permanente. At Alaska, she also oversaw the airline’s venture investment arm, which hints at her focus on long-term strategy rather than daily operations.
That difference raises questions. Will Hawaiian’s employees and flyers see her as a leader who understands the nuts and bolts of running an island-based airline, will she be more of a brand and culture steward while Alaska’s operations team handles the rest, or something else entirely?
One area where Rakow may leave her mark is sustainability. Airlines everywhere are under pressure to reduce emissions, and Hawaiian operates some of the longest flights in the domestic U.S. Her track record suggests she could bring more focus to eco-friendly initiatives at Hawaiian, a shift that might appeal to environmentally conscious travelers.
Another shuffle at Alaska Air Group.
This announcement wasn’t only about Hawaiian. Alaska also promoted Kyle Levine, its longtime general counsel, to Executive Vice President, Corporate and Public Affairs. He will oversee government relations, corporate philanthropy, and community marketing, in addition to his legal role. Alaska cast both moves as part of positioning the company for stability, as Hawaiian and Alaska officially become one carrier under a single certificate.
For Hawaiian loyalists, however, the headline is clear. In just over a year, the airline has seen its longtime local leadership replaced, Sprague installed, and now Rakow elevated. To many, it looks like a revolving door.
What this means for Hawaii travelers.
For those of us flying to and from the Islands, leadership changes are not abstract. They can affect everything from route choices to the sustainability of interisland flights.
Sprague’s departure means Hawaiian loses one of the few executives with deep operational experience. Rakow’s arrival signals that Alaska is prioritizing brand integration, culture, and public perception just as much as it is focusing on operations.
Travelers should expect several things to unfold. Atmos Rewards will soon replace HawaiianMiles as the combined loyalty currency. For many longtime Hawaiian flyers, this means adjusting to new rules for earning and redeeming travel. Network planning will continue to shift toward Alaska’s Seattle hub, which has already benefited from new long-haul flights. Honolulu will remain an important hub, but its influence will be far secondary to Seattle.
Interisland flying is another area to watch. Alaska has pledged to maintain Hawaiian’s neighbor island service, but cost pressures remain. Fares could rise or schedules could shrink as profitability becomes the guiding priority. For travelers hoping to reach smaller airports on Maui, Kauai, or the Big Island, this is a key ongoing concern.
There may also be opportunities. With Rakow’s background, we could see Hawaiian more involved in Pacific Basin sustainability projects, or even exploring new partnerships that highlight Hawaii’s role as a bridge to Asia and the South Pacific. Whether that results in new routes, or other changes, remains to be seen.
Looking back at Joe Sprague.
We’ve known Joe not only as an airline executive but also as a longtime Beat of Hawaii reader. His name has appeared in our articles more than once, often as the voice of pragmatism during tense times. He was the one who admitted integration would not be quick or easy. He didn’t hide the difficulty of running a mixed Airbus and Boeing fleet. And he worked to connect with Hawaiian’s employees and community even as decision-making power shifted north.
That honesty stood out. Readers often told us they valued Sprague’s candor compared to the corporate polish that usually surrounds airline announcements. In that sense, he bridged two worlds: the operational grind of airline management and the cultural sensitivities of Hawaii travel.
Critics weigh in.
Not everyone is convinced that this latest change bodes well for Hawaiian. Critics worry that the airline’s identity will be diluted as it becomes more deeply integrated into Alaska. Hawaiian has long been seen as an airline with a distinct brand, one that reflected Hawaii’s culture and aloha spirit. Replacing operational leaders with executives from Alaska’s side fuels concerns that this uniqueness will continue to fade.
Alaska insists that Hawaiian’s brand will remain intact and that Honolulu will continue as a hub. Rakow herself has promised to be a strong advocate for Hawaii’s people and culture. The months ahead will show whether these assurances translate into actions.
Hawaiian Airlines is at a crossroads.
With Joe Sprague stepping down, the airline loses a steady operator who helped guide it through the first year of merger turbulence. In his place, Diana Birkett Rakow represents a different kind of leadership, one rooted in sustainability, culture, and communications.
For travelers, employees, and the community, the stakes remain high. Will Hawaiian keep its identity while becoming part of Alaska’s larger machine? Will interisland flying remain strong, or will Hawaii give way to mainland priorities? And will loyalty members find value in Atmos Rewards and oneworld membership, or see it as another downgrade?
As Hawaiian Airlines enters this new chapter, the question is not just who sits in the CEO chair. It’s how Alaska can honor Hawaiian’s legacy while steering it into a financially viable future.
Do you think Hawaiian Airlines can maintain its identity under Alaska’s leadership? Or has the revolving door already spun too far? Please share your thoughts.
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I don’t see how Hawaiian and Alaska can remain separate brands under one company ownership. It will be interesting to watch as the transition moves forward. They already changed Hawaiian Miles to the new name Atmos. Will one day the planes be resigned and named Atmos Air????
Hawaiian Airlines, R.I.P
Sorry for your loss.
Can someone explain to me why Alaska is putting someone with degrees in Chemistry and Public health in charge of running an airline? What do either of those have to due with running a profitable airline, or any business for that matter.
Again, a lot of good points, one of the best is raising how will Alaska treat inter island? It’s at the core of this merger, will they respect all Hawaiian brings to the operation and more importantly will they respect Hawaii with their decisions? Or will they just treat inter island as a number on a balance sheet and let all that allowed it to survive against decades of competition disappear and forfeit a big chunk of what they paid for when they partnered with Hawaiian in Hawaii?
They should’ve replaced CEO Sprague with Captain Honolulu. Now that would’ve worked by challenging everybody to do the Captain’s mask thing. Maybe 1% could do it.
I don’t know if Diana Rokow is qualified to run Hawaiian Airlines, but given her impressive education and professional background what she is qualified for is Secretary of DSHS. Maybe Alaska could loan her out?
Hawaiʻi may be at its tipping point. In the 1990s, our islands still had proud local corporations and a sense of independence from the Mainland. Now, one by one, the bedrock institutions are vanishing — Hawaiian Air, American Savings, the credibility of our state, county, unions — while short-term rentals and monster houses eat away at our neighborhoods. Add to this living costs spiraling out of control and the influx of mainland retirees with little regard for Hawaiian values, and it feels like our own “Israel moment,” when a society as we loved it begins to unravel. The question for us is whether we still have the will to claim a future rooted in this place, or whether we will simply watch it slip away.
Please don’t let it slip away. Some of us came here long ago for the real Hawaii, people and culture and I think we are actually on the way to get it back. Now is not the time to give up. Aloha!
I know. I know.
It’s those darn haoles who insist on bringing their money to Hawaii and replacing the agricultural industry that priced itself out of the world market with all those regulations that protected the workers.
Let’s return to the Good Old Days when kids could look forward to a career cutting cane.
Right — because nothing says ‘golden days’ like colonist-run plantations that crushed Native land use and imported cheap labor. Cane fields then, condos now — same haole playbook, just with different crops.
Please do not compare Hawaii to that place, unless you’re referring to them unraveling the values of the land they colonized.
I don’t doubt that Joe Sprague has a heart, or that he understands what Hawaiian Airlines once meant to these islands. But he should ask himself whether presiding over a slow dismantling is really the legacy he wants to leave. Better an honest bankruptcy than a hollow survival, where the name “Hawaiian” is kept alive only as a shell. Maybe, just maybe, this is the moment for leaders with a conscience — whether Joe himself, or someone like Dunkerley — to step up, reconsider, and insist that this airline be more than a brand mined for parts. Hawaiʻi needs stewardship, not caretaking of decline.
How is wiping out shareholders, stiffing creditors, employees, and suppliers; destroying jobs that will never come back, and wrecking the transportation infrastructure of the state “more honest.”
Hawaiians should kiss that eskimo every day because he’s all that kept the state from disaster.
The real risk isn’t a crash but a slow erosion of the lifeline. Strong leadership would turn that into long-term resilience and brand value instead of the managed decline we are all witnessing now.
re: Outlook for Hawaiian Airlines
My forecast is that once the single operating certificate is attained, changes will happen rapidly, including new uniforms for all customer facing staff and retirement of Aloha wear for Hawaiian employees. Also, the A-330 retrofit probably will minimize Hawaii themes, and in all likelihood many will be repainted in the new Alaska livery if a new A-330 crew base is opened at Seattle. Never say never….
A big move would be to open a SEA-SYD route as much of the current HNL-SYD route undoubtedly includes a large portion of mainland-originating pax. Alaska would then feed that traffic directly into their SEA hub, rather than HNL. Removing that traffic from HNL probably would downgrade SYD service to the A-321, especially if Alaska adds new A-321 XLR tails to the fleet.
The contract signed and approved strictly said they must always provide interIsland service as it is now for a minimum of 10 years. So no need to question that.
On the other changes:
You are now seeing that their own management is leaving and I can guarantee you its because Alaska has NO intentions of keeping anything in Hawaii as staus quo.
This company is 6 billion in debt and bought Hawaiian to expand their Seattle hub. That’s it…
They now and will never care for the Hawaiian people or the airline.
This buyout should have never been approved.
Bankruptcy protection probably would have been a better route for Hawaiian. Reality is being seen now.
Bankruptcy protection would have been better? I think not. Shedding routes, aircraft, and furloughing Thousands employees in bankruptcy would not have been better. And that’s presuming HA could have stayed in Chapter 11 without converting to Chapter 7 liquidation.
Spirit was in a stronger financial position than HA pre-covid and we’re witnessing the quick collapse of that airline. Spirit probably won’t be around in six months.
HA is now profitable for the first time since 2019 thanks to Seattle’s management/ownership.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of good. Most HA employees will keep their jobs because of this merger. And the HA brand survives because of this merger.
Stop it! Spirit was never in stronger position then Hawaiian. Where in the world do you get your info?
HA had huge asserts of planes and that is what Alaska Airlines wanted. Never concerned with Hawaiian Airlines or its routes.
Alaska is now in deeper debt and are paying for growth by leveraging more debt to try and grow to a larger player in the market. You need to understand that bankruptcy protection would have froze assets and allowed HA to operate in the best interest of the HA and it’s present routes.
Alaska offered to buy out on credit leverage and has this insane idea that Seattle can be a hub of the world.
Not happening. The entire Alaska approach is a huge gamble. Amazes me how people get this idea that more planes means success. Or changing a Airline brand will have zero effect.
Each day they elminate HA and routes to accompany Seattle they slip further into debt. Alaska will never be Delta or United etc
A corporation in Chapter 11 continues to operate in the best interest of the creditors.
Aloha Rob & Jeff
Love reading BoH… don’t often comment but I have on occasion! This topic—a merger—always leaves me wondering… does anyone really think HA will maintain its individual/unique identity after the single operating cert is issued? I never have believed a corporation nearing bankruptcy and requiring a merger to “continue” will be relevant in its individual identity in the long term even if it was “promised” as part of the merger.
Hi BOH team, why has Hawaiian stopped competing with Southwest on price for interisland travel? Between two summer trips and one fall interisland trips, I’ve looked at a lot of flights recently – in almost every instance Southwest is cheaper than Hawaiian by at least $10 per one-way, often more. I prefer HA but I’m not going to spend more to fly them. All my completed Southwest flights were 100% full. Why has HA stopped competing on price? Is HA succeeding in getting higher fares than Southwest? Or are they just trying to fail out of interisland travel?
I believe Hawaiian Airlines is not the same before Alaska tooked over but remember Hawaiian Airlines Brands represents Hawaii not Alaska ok taking away the livery of Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 787-9 and Employees was un called for why take away half and not all don’t make sense
Hi,
My idea is for reservations and online customer service to be a remote job and reservations employees should be able to work from anywhere on the the west coast, not just Seattle. I have 12 yrs experience in reservations and have been waiting to hear I can apply for a remote, part or full time position . I love helping customers and sales in general and live in San Diego. This may save money and help this merger. I am willing to travel for training and mandatory meetings as needed. I would love to work for the airlines again and provide superior service.
Do we know for sure that AS phone reps aren’t already working from home? When I call them, I get the impression they are not in a call center or necessarily in Seattle but I don’t know for sure.
This is a loss for the airlines imo…Joe’s attributes are detailed in the article.
I had one interaction with him regarding a complaint about using my credits on a previously canceled flight. He answered my email the same day and instructed the appropriate person at the airline to remedy my issue. He will be missed.
Transitions like this happen in every airline merger. The important thing is how they affect real travelers. I’ll hold judgment until we see what happens with Alaska routes and pricing next year once they are operating as one combined company.
Seems like corporate spin to me. “Retirement” often means pushed out.
I hope Diana’s background in sustainability will be a big plus. Airlines have to deal with climate issues head-on and Hawaiian is perfectly positioned to lead in the Pacific. Come on Alaska.
Hawaiian announced last month that they’re going to start using sustainable aviation fuel on some KIX-HNL flights, which is a great start.
Curious if you know that for every pound added to an aircraft it causes more fuel to be burned.
So to not be a hypocrite, all the climate activists should stop traveling.
Interesting timing. They’ve barely had a year since the takeover and we’re already had several rounds of executive shuffling. Not sure that inspires confidence.
Nail on head: what matters most to me as a regular flyer is whether interisland flights remain frequent and reliable. Leadership changes are fine, but if I can’t count on my seat from Kona to Honolulu, none of this matters to me.
I actually met Joe once years ago and he struck me as such a down-to-earth guy. If Alaska wanted stability, I’m surprised they let him go so quickly. Or maybe it was just his time.