As Hawaiian Airlines and parent company Alaska Airlines deepen their operational alignment heading into 2025, relocations at five major mainland airports are getting underway. However, the airlines’ two most critical hubs—Seattle and Honolulu—are notably absent from this strategy. Their exclusion raises questions about logistical challenges and the broader goals behind these plans.
The next five planned airport moves leave out two.
Hawaiian Airlines’ next co-locations with Alaska Airlines are set for Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Ontario. These airports were chosen to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve the passenger experience. The moves build on Hawaiian’s recent relocation to Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport, where the two airlines operate side-by-side as of last week.
The upcoming changes promise better connectivity and access to upgraded facilities for passengers, following the model set by the San Francisco co-location.
Why Honolulu and Seattle are missing.
Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines’ home base, is perhaps a surprising omission from the immediate co-location plans. The $300 million Mauka Concourse at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport has faced criticism since its opening in 2021 for being underutilized and lacking appropriate amenities. Travelers have pointed out limited dining options and a failure to incorporate Hawaiian cultural elements, leaving the terminal feeling uninspired despite its hefty price tag. It can also be an unexpectedly long walk from the rest of Hawaiian’s HNL operations.
A likely move by Alaska Airlines to the Mauka Concourse could help address at least some of these challenges. Increased foot traffic would justify the addition of more dining and shopping options while improving the terminal’s overall abandoned atmosphere. For both airlines, consolidating operations in Honolulu’s newest terminal would enhance efficiency and provide passengers with a more cohesive and improved experience.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Alaska Airlines’ home base, also stands out as a notable exclusion. As one Beat of Hawaii reader, Greg, observed, “SEA is very gate-constrained, especially in the widebody category. In the North Satellite, Alaska’s primary gate block, there is only one widebody gate, and using that blocks off two narrowbody gates.”
This space constraint makes co-locating Hawaiian’s widebody operations with Alaska logistically impractical without significant infrastructure changes.
By prioritizing these key hubs in future plans, Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines will be able to unlock new efficiencies and provide greater convenience for travelers. However, for now, the focus remains on five mainland airports where the impact is expected to be most immediate.
LAX: The most anticipated move.
Can Alaska Airlines Fix Hawaiian’s LAX Mess? Among the five planned relocations, the move at LAX stands out as the most anticipated. Hawaiian Airlines currently operates out of the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), where passengers have long been frustrated by lengthy and inconvenient walks between check-in, gates, and baggage claim.
Co-locating with Alaska Airlines, potentially in Terminal 6, promises to significantly enhance the passenger experience and operational efficiency of both airlines.
This relocation allows Hawaiian to reset its operations at its largest mainland gateway and one of the busiest airports in the country. By building stronger connections with Alaska Airlines’ well-established presence at LAX, the Hawaiian brand can improve its reputation there while providing travelers with a more cohesive travel experience.
What’s next for Hawaiian and Alaska.
While Seattle and Honolulu’s absence from the relocation plans is notable and awaited, the focus on five mainland airports highlights the airlines’ commitment to improving operations where they are most needed. For travelers, these moves promise faster connections, better facilities, and a more seamless journey.
The LAX and other airport relocations will likely serve as test cases for the remaining alignment between Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines. SEA and HNL should eventually be included in these plans, but that remains an open question. The focus is on creating a better and more efficient travel experience at these five mainland locations.
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Aloha,
Hawaiian/Alaska flights with larger widebody planes will use the new International satellite hub. This is very well appointed/modern/food vendors/local art installations and further down the passenger car lanes for dropoff/pickup. Major improvement for the merger clients at SeaTac International Airport. The Hawaii Beats writer was unaware of the new architecture and planning. I hope the Honolulu side rises above the writer’s take on the new merger. Time will tell in these early days.
Mahalo
I have recently flown Alaska to the mainland. They absolutely cannot compare with the aloha on Hawaiian Airlines. What a disappointment. I really hope this isn’t a step down for Hawaiian. The Alaskan staff were rude and condescending. Zero aloha.
What’s on your tail? Either an Eskimo or Hula girl…
More direct flights to Maui and Kauai and the big island from the mainland. This could eliminate a few HNL to outer island flights. Less flights means less planes and baggage handling personnel. It also means less FA’s employed for island to island transfers. Sounds like a money saving move for Alaska airlines. One more stop for everybody else going and leaving from Oahu. Is it that they are trying to be a little different from other airlines?
Personal note. I have sked and paid for a SLC to HNL flight in March 2025 with HA. How can I research if route sked to go or rebook with another airlines.
Living in the Phoenix metro area, would love to see more direct flights to Hawaii. We have a couple but I believe with our big Polynesian community there is the need. Especially direct to islands such as Maui, Kauai, The Big Island. Anyway, we will see.
So now Hawaiian isnt losing $10 million monthly thanks to some magic performed by Alaska Air?
Hawaiian at LAX is so terrible right now. It can only get better thanks to Alaska Airlines and I can’t wait
Thank goodness we typically fly to Hawaii (LIH) leaving Portland (PDX). With the remodeling they have done recently this is even more of a no-brainer
If Alaska decides to move Hawaiian to Terminal 1 at LAS it will definitely lessen the experience for Hawaiian passengers. Hawaiian currently operates out of Terminal 3 and its much more spacious and many more upgraded amenities in comparison to T1. Hopefully Alaska is the one that moves instead.
Aloha. Well I am very happy to hear that possibly HA will relocate to merge with the Alaska terminal at LAX. Moving out of the Tom Bradley terminal will be a more efficient and less confusing strategy in travel to and from Hawaii. The walk alone is bad. Mahalo.
When will Hawaiian move to Terminal 6 with Alaska? Have a trip from LAX to OGG in April and would love not to use TBIT. Thanks
Hi Nancy.
We will update this as soon as we know more details.
Aloha.
Having HA move into Terminal 6 at LAX would be nice to have us in the same terminal, but Air Canada might have something to say about. Air Canada currently uses one of the wide body gates in Terminal 6 for their Dreamliners, so there might have to be some negotiations between AS, Air Canada the LAX World Airport Authority to work that out. Every time I go into and out of my base at LAX there is an Air Canada Dreamliner parked at one of the gates especially early morning and late at night. Having 2 widebody aircraft at Terminal 6 at the same time might be an issue.
Greg is correct. The gate space at SEA is tight. And, now with major renovations going on in Concourse C at SEA there are a couple of narrow body gates currently unusable making gate space even more of a premium at SEA.
I guess this means less inter island flights if not going to HNL. If you are because Oahu is less expensive you have to now endure a 2 hour layover each way. San Francisco is one of the most dangerous airports to land in because of ocean winds and short landing strips. IMO makes me think that if a tourist is willing to jump through these types of hoops to get to Hawaii then he has money to burn in his pockets. Making inconvenient incidents for tourists is one way to control how many people vacation in Hawaii. This is another way to guarantee full inter island plane occupancy as well as more expensive flights. (supply and demand)
You stated: “San Francisco is one of the most dangerous airports to land in because of ocean winds and short landing strips ..”
“One of the most dangerous airports”?? I’m curious; where did you find that information?? SFO has two runways > 11,000′ and two that are 7,600’+ and 8,600’+ respectively. I’ve taken off and/or landed my B-747 on all of them … not “short” and not a problem.
And “ocean winds”?? How about LAX, SAN, SEA, ANC, NYC, JFK, MIA and a host of others – and that’s just a domestic sampling. Again, not a problem.
The frequent SFO fog and parallel landings on RW28L or RW28R ? Now that could be cause for “paying more attention” … but any more “dangerous” than most ?? Nope …
For Honolulu, I think that DOT-A needs to think more about what the Terminal A complex is, and what it is not, for operations like Hawaiian, and Alaska. Right now, the terminal is all Hawaiian, but as mentioned, even being a hub terminal does not develop the necessary traffic to provide in-terminal services. Opening up that terminal to other airlines besides Hawaiian would help – as it was at one time the terminal complex for both Hawaiian and Aloha before it went out of business in 2008.
As mentioned before, the terminal could also be utilized for Southwest operations in at least one part of it. Now imagine Hawaiian, Southwest, and Alaska operations out of that terminal…it would be a hopping place to be for sure at all hours of the day.
But of course, again, HDOT-A needs to figure this out and tell whomever where they need to park their planes.
What’s a “more cohesive experience”?
B of H, mahalo for the update. Can you or someone else reading this provide thoughts about whether or not the overall walk from the gates at LAX to the Uber/Lyft pick-up area is going to be shorter or longer? The walk from the TBIT gates was quite (or very) far, and co-locating with Alaska at LAX might make it even more of a walk (from Terminal 6 to near Terminal 1) unless there is some kind of walkway that cuts across the LAX terminals. Also, I know that an LAX “people mover” will open quite soon (before the Olympics?) and that there is shuttle bus transport to the Uber/Lyft area so walking distance could be less of an issue. In fact, the shuttle bus distance might be much closer in terms of pick-up at Terminal 6 and drop-off at the Uber/Lyft area.
My experience at LAX T-6 is that it is shorter. Similar to that of what its like at T4 (American) and T1 (Southwest). TBT 2 is a satellite terminal off to the west whose design had people walking a mile just to get to the baggage claim. Not unlike the walk people make at Vegas from Hawaiians gates at the satellite there.
But yes, it will be shorter.
I think since they are part of the “Oneworld” mileage program such as American, they should somehow think of how to Incorporate American in these plans as well. I.e. American operates out of Terminal 4 & 5 in LAX so if HAL were to be near Alaska and American then it would be more convenient for mixed airline booked passengers or for Cancelations or rerouted passengers who could be rebooked on 1 of the 3.
We just came back from a trip from EUGHNL on Alaska with a stopover each way in Seattle. Seattle seems to always be a cluster. We took three trains to get from the gate we arrived in, to the Alaska connection to Eugene. Only then to have that flight canceled! Once again! Alaska was not helpful! The options they gave us, were not options!! They refused to try other airlines to get us home and they suggested we take a late afternoon flight the next day. This behavior makes you not want to fly Alaska to Hawaii ever! We ultimately got a refund and rented a car to drive home arriving at 430 a.m. Pretty bad that this was the best option! We received an email offering $100 discount for future travel, with restrictions of course. Seems they are pinched on customer service (and funds). The agent told us in the end, we made the best decision! Ugh!