Last month, the frenzy around airline consolidation was rekindled as Spirit Airlines announced a plan to merge with Frontier Airlines. That was leapfrogged this week when relative bemoth JetBlue jumped in to compete for Spirit, sweetening the acquisition pie to the tune of $3.6 billion in cash. The result would be both airlines flying under the JetBlue name, based in New York.
We’ll suggest that this isn’t going to end there, and it could, in fact, come very close to home.
You may recall, in an acquisition related to Hawaii, that it was exactly six years ago this week that Alaska Airlines successfully bid $2.6 billion to acquire Virgin America. That merger reached fruition, albeit challenging to complete, due to federal concerns about lack of competition, and potential fare increases.
Since then, significant airline mergers and acquisitions have largely gone quiet. Until now.
Airline mergers/acquisitions on front burner again, testing the water.
This week’s airline news brings further attention to the question of what might happen next in airline consolidations. Many analysts believe that yesterday’s JetBlue plan is just the beginning of the next round of airline moves, which will likely remain focused on regional and discount carriers. These companies are under competitive pressure from the largest U.S. airlines.
A chess game in the making – is Hawaiian the next move for Jet Blue?
Six years ago, Jet Blue lost the “apparent” fight to acquire Virgin America to Alaska Airlines. Or did it really?
Could their sights have been set for years on buying Hawaiian Airlines? We’ve suggested for a long time that a merger between Hawaiian Airlines and a larger player would, by necessity, occur at some point down the road.
A future consolidation might bring JetBlue, Spirit and Hawaiian together into a larger, more competitive alliance with far greater distribution, capable of better dealing with the likes of American, Delta, Southwest and United Airlines? Those four main players are currently responsible for two-thirds of all U.S. domestic air traffic.
Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue are already code-share partners.
Back in 2018, the two carriers announced “an expanded (26-airport) codeshare agreement that allows travelers… to easily connect to the Hawaiian Islands via Boston’s Logan International Airport. Boston-area JetBlue customers can now purchase tickets on Hawaiian Airlines’ nonstop flight to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) with JetBlue’s ‘B6’ code and earn TrueBlue points when they fly. Hawaiian and JetBlue’s guests also will continue to enjoy one-stop check-in and baggage transfers to their final destination, as well as the opportunity to earn and redeem loyalty rewards.”
What’s your take on the next round of airline consolidations?
We look forward to hearing from you in the comments below.
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Alaska and southwest is next in my opinion. Same type of aircraft operated.
I would actual love to see All 3 airlines merge, Frontier,Jetblue and Spirit.
Then allow Alaska, Hawaii and Southwest to merge, keeping the Alaska name.
With All the shortage of pilot’s, employees and aircraft something has to give and fast.
This will create a olive branch and Refresh to this ohhh so stale and obsoleted industry.
I want to see new blood amd forward thinking CEO’s revitalize the airline industry with offerings customers want and ate willing to pay for.
I’ve worked in the airline industry for over 20 years and there is no time like the present to infuse the industry with rebranding and restructuring for the future.
I think it would make sense for Delta to purchase Hawaiian.
Delta could use the reach into Asia and the South Pacific.
Additionally, Delta is the largest operator of the Boeing 717.
Good points all, hopefully it would improve Hawaiian’s recent move to the West Terminal, to sharing Delta Gate’s, as is done with Jet Blue and Hawaiian in many Airport’s. The biggest downside would be Delta’s Program, grabbing Upgrades to the Best First Class experience from the Mainland to Hawaii. Thankfully, my days of using LAX are long gone after 30 years of Weekly travel, as long as Sky Harbor maintains it’s Non-Stops on Hawaiian, we remain happy camper’s, though I’d prefer they be in the Goldwater Terminal 4.
I don’t think Jet Blue or anyone would really want to of acquire Hawaiian. Unless they have clear intentions of wanting to expand to the Asia pacific market internationally to use Hawaii as a hub.
Good point Shawn….any airline buying Hawaiian and then eliminating the Hawaiian identity pretty much throws out what makes Hawaiian the superior airline serving Hawaii. To buy them you would have to pay for the Hawaiian name and then not use it?
It would be like buying the Royal Hawaiian hotel and then making it a Holiday Inn.
Is there some source here, or mere speculation and conjecture? This seems like the latter. If you have a source for this, please elaborate.
Hi Diana.
There’s nothing more we’re at liberty to say.
Aloha.
Hope not! I love feeling the aloha spirit as I board my flight. Keep Hawaiian, Hawaiian!
Keep Hawaiian, Hawaiian. I love the Spirit of Aloha that one gets when they fly Hawaiian Airlines. I would not have an issue with say Alaska Air Group acquiring Hawaiian but keep the two brands separate and operate under the same umbrella Corporation. It would really be a shame to see Hawaiian acquired and absorbed into any other company and lose their identity.
I think the solution here is for Hawaiian to look at acquiring one of the mainland puddle jumpers. Fly HNL-LAS, and then connect to a Cessna to Santa Fe, Reno, Salt Lake. Repeat this a few more times around the country and you have a nice network. Add in a base where one of the larger airlines abandoned due to consolidation (CVG, STL, MEM) and you can have a few routes on larger aircraft for getting around the mainland and connect to you puddle jumper from there. (BNA-STL-LAX or (MSY-STL-HNL).
I’m pretty sick of the corporate ‘monopoly mentality’. These companies kill competition, leaving consumers with no choice but to pay whatever the corporation demands, usually getting poorer and poorer services. The corporation then jacks their price to please board members. Consumers just keep losing.
I really hope that Hawaiian Airlines remains just that, Hawaiian Airlines. They are the only airline I’ll fly when I go to Hawaii. Hawaiian is the only airline flying widebody aircraft nonstop from Las Vegas. The flight crew make you feel like you’re in Hawaii from the minute you step onboard.
I sure hope JetBlue doesn’t buy Hawaiian Airlines, they will ruin that great brand.
The first time I did *not* fly Hawaiian Airlines, I was like “Where the heck is my Mai Tai?” 😂
It is a nice touch…
It sounds like Delta Air Lines has been positioning to do just that.
They are the best financially. Should be fun.
Any mainland airline buying HA means the end of the only truly “Hawaiian Style” service to the State. Crewing inter island with mainland based crews, cutting back on service because the bean counters don’t have a clue about Hawaii other then just another far off destination, the loss of jobs and staffing by people with no sense of Aloha. As someone else noted, it would be replacing flower Leis with plastic Leis. It would have more ramifications on what makes Hawaii special then many realize.
My son is a pilot on another airline and I could fly free to Hawaii… I love Hawaiian Airlines so much that I purchase my round trip ticket with Hawaiian every year! That says a lot about their service… from ticket purchase to deplaning at my destination.
Sadly a post COVID environment has created a vacuum for qualified pilots. It is now a game of musical chairs for airlines with strong balance sheets to acquire smaller competitors purely for the pilot group! Simply put, it’s a supply and demand issue.
I remember flying Hawaiian for the first time when they initiated flights to the mainland. It was like a breath of fresh air compared to the other carriers. We felt like we were already in Hawaii as soon as we got on the plane. Let’s hope the merger never happens!
Aloha BOH Chris Elliott has some interesting comments. usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2022/04/08/jetblue-spirit-merger-airlines-customer-complaints/9511002002/
This is all a direct result of Governor Ige’s isolationism and Lock-down of the Aloha State, I broached this exact subject 4 weeks ago in one of the scenarios about finally opening the State back up. The dialog On Intra-State reducing Tourism, is the issue, Hawaiian grew with Tourism, it eliminated it’s only real competition, Aloha, predominately Intra-Island, but now is facing the same Labor issues as the other Service Industries Hotel, Dining etc., see Ige, Island Mayor’s, UH, Tourist Board!
Never know. The Kama’aina only care about the dollars. Anyone remember Aloha Airlines? It was dropped like a cheap suit because a ratty regional airline using shady and apparently illegal business practices rebranded a few airplanes and called it go!, came in and destroyed one of the largest employers in the state and then left the state a few years later. Money talks…
Perhaps Hawaiian should feel guilty about charging Kama’aina $250 round trip flights inter island before Southwest got here. They had a monopoly and all they did was steal from us. Now since Southwest came. We travel for a quarter of the price.
Shame on Hawaiian for being so high for Kama’aina.
Fairly certain SWA is subsidizing your low inter island and transpacific fairs by gouging others between other us small market city pairings. The view that one should pay at least twice less than a taxi or Uber to the airport than a ticket on a flying machine in a highly complex and costly operating environment is fascinating.
True that…check some similar distance SWA flight on the mainland. More than HA ever charged. (just looked, BUR to LAS $220-$340) The SWA effect means breaking into a new market with cheap fares to build traffic and then slowly raise them over time. It’s just their business model, they certainly are no friend of Hawaii by trying to flood the market regardless of the impact. I remember $9.95 inter island tickets on Mid Pacific in the 1980’s!
Can’t speak to specifics of your SW Reservation, Burbank-LV, Palm Sunday-Easter excluded, short notice, but looking at their Fare C for April as low as $138RT. To Mid-Pacific, you may have answered your own question @$9.95, still remember seeing their planes un-used by the old Inter-island Terminal moth-balled, now a Charter Co.. Traveling on Business throughout the late 1980’s -2010, remember $25 and $45 Each way Maui and Kauai, sometimes AAA got a discount, mostly Aloha from records.
Recently flew JetBlue from Boston to Florida. The outbound flight was delayed. The return flight was at 2pm, but at midnight they informed us it was cancelled. They said, “get your bags and go home”. They did not offer accommodations nor transportation. That’s the reason why we NEVER fly Jet Blue, but it was the only choice we had for a direct flight. I’m a local girl living on the east coast, so I know the difference between both airlines. It would be a disaster and a sad day for Hawaii.
Could Southwest potentially put a bid out for Hawaiian ?
Two completely different types of airlines IMHO. SWA merging with Hawaiian would be like a bunch of Texas politicians thinking they could move to Hawaii and get elected to take over the government and run it their way. Can you imagine HA’S inter island operation being run from a company based in Dallas? Piedmont and USAir were both doing well till they merged. The culture clash destroyed them.
Well Hawaiian is run by a Canadian (CEO), an English man (COO). They were taught aloha, ohana, and malama. But they donʻt live it. They fired people born and raised in the islands because of a vax. They played Gov Igeʻs fear mandate and fired people with 50 plus years of service. These number crunching business men will kick out the Hawaiianʻs once again. Ask the Hawaiianʻs what that is like. Business men taking over the land now their airline. They dug their own grave.
Not sure what the problem with having highly qualified executives who move to Hawaii and embrace the airline. They created 1000’s of jobs for Hawaii. Your politics are showing. Just like the military had to get rid of soldiers that felt what they read on Facebook justified disobeying orders I think airline employees putting conspiracy theories over safety of the traveling public is not justified either.
The Hawaii islands have already suffered with Outrageous inter island fares after the failure of Aloha Air and Go. Hawaiian had the monopoly for many year and raise the inter island flights to unrealistic prices until the Arrival of Southwest Airlines to the inter island market. Thanks
To Southwest adding back inter island competition you can now fly inter island cheaper that it is to fill up the gas in your car and take Two Free check bags up to 50LBS each boot! The DOT/DOJ would
I hope not.
Local is Aloha.
No other airlines offers Aloha.
And look what happened to them …
Would be a travesty. Don’t need more cattle carriers flying to Hawaii. We already have southwest for that. I truly do feel I’m “back home” as soon as I get on board. Mai tai and lay my seat back with a big smile on my face.
This headline seems like a leap that could scare non-readers from flying HA. Do you know something that we don’t?
I hope this won’t happen! Hawaiian is one of the only airlines I’d pay more to fly with. The merger with Alaska killed what was special about flying on Virgin and doubtless Hawaiian would suffer the same fate if it is acquired by some more generic player. Not to mention that the cheap feel of Jet Blue and Spirit are not exactly a great fit for Hawaiian’s position in the market.
Could someone help them with 2 things that I find frustrating
1. The Hawaiian app….never recognizes that I have a flight booked
2. Why can’t they list credit that I have? I have to call them to use it.
Linda B I have the same issues.
I love Hawaiian Airlines and would be so sad if they went away! I could fly direct to Lihue on Alaska or others but I don’t because I’m loyal to Hawaiian Airlines.
I would also miss my Pualani membership and be stuck with over 200,000 air miles. How long do these things take and do they honor
purchased tickets?
Although very unlikely even in this case, One’s mileage would be at risk in bankruptcy. You would be a creditor and would maybe come out with something. Merger and acquisition won’t threaten your mileage.
I don’t forsee Hawaiian merging with any other airline. They are a solid proven airline who has done great on their own. However, I can see Jet Blue going after and buying Alaska Airlines in the future.
Frontier’s a fit as is Jet Blue. Good feeder service from the mainland is needed to keep it viable. Keep the name.
I feel like the state of Hawaii will never let Hawaiian Airlines disappear.
Good point Andy, a mainland carrier buying Hawaiian means most of the 7000 HA employees would lose their job when Hawaii just becomes another destination for some mainland carrier. Can’t believe the State would let that happen. The State should be doing everything they can to support an independent Hawaiian Airlines, doing anything else is slap in the face of the residents. Fly Local/buy local!
I have to question if all this cash all the airlines have for deal making is a result of the Covid payments that were meant to protect jobs, and are now being used for a giant game of corporate monopoly to enhance shareholder value…..
I sure hope Hawaiian is not bought out or that they merge with another airline. Rarely does anything good come out of it for the customer. eBay is a classic example of how a perfectly good working company is now total garbage!
It would be a terrible blow to Hawaii if that happened. Hawaiian being local is what makes it’s service superior. You can’t do what they do from mainland based HQ. Interesting fact, Hawaiian is the only airline that survived deregulation. Every airline that existed in 1978 either disappeared (Pan Am, Eastern Aloha etc) or merged to survive (Delta, UAL SWA etc) HA is not only the oldest surviving carrier (1929] they are the only one that has never merged to become what they are.
Aloha
I think it would be high unlikely that any airline would acquire Hawaiian. It’s a niche market that wouldn’t give any airline much advantage. Usually airlines buy each other up to eliminate competition and acquire more aircraft quickly (as AS did with VX). No one’s going to spend that much money just to get more Hawaiian flying. If someone did buy Hawaiian they would break it apart and reallocate the aircraft to mainland flying.
Sad but true, a mainland airline painting another name on the aircraft combined with merged seniority lists and allowing the highest seniority access to the Pacific flying and everything that is good about Hawaiian would be gone. The State would lose the only airline they can count on in dire times. Mainland airlines pull back after hurricanes and other downturns, HA has always been there for Hawaii.
Good analysis; thanks for your thoughts.
I believe the current Administration in D.C. is not in favor of airline consolidations; stifles competition.
So much for loyalty to Hawaiian Airlines for being “home grown”, and “when the employees come to Hawaii, they are coming home”, and “I would never book with anyone but our own Hawaiian Airlines” etc. etc. Sigh…
A few thoughts:
1. Typically if an airline is looking for a suiter, they typically get themselves “dressed up” if you will be attractive to investors. I don’t see Hawaiian doing that.
2. We don’t know who has come through the doors at Koapaka St’s HQ and made an offer. For all, we know B6, VA, and even the types like UAL, have and HAL said no.
3. While HAL says no, you can be the conversation goes something like this: “We are not for sale, but how much?”
With COVID, all bets are off.
Dressing sometimes goes on behind the scenes. Pray SWA or AK aren’t in the driver’s seat.