The recent merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines prompts significant speculation about what’s next for Hawaii’s flagship carrier.
One key question is whether Hawaiian Airlines’ widebody aircraft fleet, consisting of Airbus A330s and the newly introduced Boeing 787s (pictured), will remain in Hawaii or over time be transferred to Alaska’s network based in Seattle.
Hawaiian Airlines has long been crucial in connecting Hawaii to mainland U.S. and international destinations. These widebody jets enable direct flights to North America, Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific, providing access to both visitors and residents.
Now, as Alaska Air Group evaluates the potential profitability of Hawaiian’s operations, Hawaii faces the prospect of losing a valuable asset that has supported its tourism industry for decades: its widebody jets.
Hawaiian Airlines’ widebody fleet: Hawaii’s vital resource.
Hawaiian Airlines’ widebody planes include 24 decade-old Airbus A330-200s and two recently added Boeing 787-9s. These are the workhorses of the airline’s long-haul operations, with the fleet of 18 narrow-body A321neo planes.
If Alaska Air Group decides to reassign some of these widebody aircraft, currently numbered at 26, to its Seattle hub, Hawaii could lose some capacity to serve these crucial markets. These could be replaced with Boeing 737 MAX planes, which, together with its legacy 737 planes, are the mainstay of the Alaska Airlines fleet.
The unique role of Hawaii’s Pacific hub.
Hawaii has long been a gateway between the U.S. mainland and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Honolulu International Airport serves as a vital hub for tourists, residents, and commerce. Hawaiian Airlines has capitalized on its geographical advantage by offering direct widebody flights to cities in Japan, South Korea, and Australia, among others.
The merger, however, is poised to mix up the Hawaiian Airlines fleet. While Alaska Airlines has committed to maintaining the Hawaiian brand, the question remains whether it will continue prioritizing Hawaii’s needs like standalone Hawaiian Airlines once did.
If some of Hawaiian Airlines’ widebody planes are redirected to Seattle, likely for new international routes, it isn’t entirely clear how Hawaiian will serve destinations beyond the reach of its A321neo fleet.
How can Alaska Air Group keep Hawaii’s needs at the forefront?
Alaska Air faces a delicate balancing act in Hawaii. On the one hand, the company needs to improve Hawaiian Airlines’ dismal financial performance, which had put the airline on the verge of bankruptcy prior to Alaska’s purchase. At the same time, Alaska must consider the broader impact on Hawaii if Hawaiian’s widebody planes are reassigned to Alaska’s Seattle-based operations.
Alaska Air Group’s recent decision to hire an International Development Director suggests that the company is serious about expanding its long-haul operations. However, could this move come at a cost to Hawaii if it results in the transfer of Hawaiian’s widebody aircraft out of the islands?
Alaska’s expertise in aircraft deployment.
Alaska Airlines is adept at deploying the most efficient aircraft for each route, as will undoubtedly be the case in Hawaii. Recently, for example, they swapped out their smaller Embraer E175 jets with larger Boeing 737 planes on a Seattle to California route. That move accommodated increased demand while allowing them to operate with greater efficiency.
As Alaska Air integrates Hawaiian Airlines, this proven ability to optimize fleet deployment could play a role in determining how Hawaiian’s wide-body planes are utilized—whether those stay in Hawaii or are repurposed for distant markets. That won’t happen overnight, and there are issues that Alaska will need to navigate including Seattle gate constraints.
The Alaska Airlines-Hawaiian Airlines merger comes with opportunities and risks.
While Alaska Airlines will undoubtedly look to improve Hawaiian Air’s financial situation significantly, it must also carefully consider the potential consequences for Hawaii operations if widebody aircraft are shifted away from Honolulu.
Hawaiian Airlines has been a cornerstone of Hawaii’s travel and tourism industry, and the widebody fleet has played a crucial role in maintaining Hawaii’s connectivity to the world.
The future of Hawaiian Airlines’ widebody fleet remains uncertain for the time being. However, one thing is clear: Hawaii has much to lose if these planes “fly the coop,” and Alaska Air Group will need to tread carefully to avoid grounding Hawaii’s tourism industry.
We welcome your thoughts on the Hawaiian Air widebody fleet.
Travelers **should** expect aircraft type and schedule changes to/from HNL. However, I don’t think Alaska is going to abandon many, if any, Asia/Pacific destinations from HNL (e.g., Japan, Sydney, etc., however, with maybe a SEA-HNL-SYD schedule?) However, I would think that some other locations might see 737 MAX flights. For example, Papeete (PPT) is 2,700 miles from HNL. That’s well within a 737 MAX range (3,300-3,800 miles), so you could see a change in aircraft. On the upside for that route, maybe it gets flown more than once a week (currently only Saturdays). While I’m sure there will be disappointments in route/aircraft/frequency changes under Alaska, there may be some nice nuggets, too. While I don’t see the demand, a HNL-MEX (Mexico City, an Alaska Airlines served city) is within the range of 737 MAX. Ballet Folklorico anyone?
The main reason I fly Hawaiian from Seattle to Hawaii is the wide body aircraft that allows me to have only 2 seats together avoiding a middle seat. Alaska flights to Hawaii are single aisle with a seating configuration of 3 and 3.
Farewell to Hawaii’s widebody aircraft. Those widebody aircraft will likely be reassigned to Seattle and repurposed. Alaska has a lot of clout at SEA. Although the Alaska Air Group appears “sentimental” about Hawaii and it’s tourism, it’s only a small part of the picture. It will dig Hawaiian Airlines out of the hole with efficiency and tough decisions at the expense of Hawaii residents. Besides, what other choices would we, Hawaii residents have, if we need to fly a narrow-body plane to make a connection to somewhere. We don’t have much choices.
AAG would be foolish to move the wide bodies out of Hawaii. HA already has a well established maintenance base and program there in Hawaii. Training the AS mechanics on the two airframes alone would cost money and time, Solely using the MAX is a very bad and unsafe idea. We have always enjoyed flying on HA’s A330’s and hope to fly on the Dreamliner to Hawaii soon. Alaska management doesn’t need to mettle in things that should be left alone
My family and I are Hawai’i residents and have flown on Hawaiian Airlines wide body aircraft exclusively between Honolulu and the mainland for many years. We have never flown on Hawaiian’s A321neo fleet to the mainland and If Alaska Airlines discontinues wide body service to the west coast destinations and begins flying those routes with 737 service only, then we will change to another airline that offers wide body service. We prefer the comfort and ride that wide body jets offer. We are loyal Hawaiian customers, but getting rid of wide body service to the west coast is a deal breaker for us.
I do not care for the 3 across seats.
Can only hope they keep the wide body for the nonstop 11 hour BOS/HNL route. At the moment there are no other nonstop options. But, as you’ve reported, Delta will start seasonal nonstop service next month. The Delta option will be superior to Hawaii’s somewhat tired aircraft unless they start using the 787 Dreamliner.
How will Delta’s service be superior? Which aircraft do they plan on using for the route you mentioned?
I can see a drop of the HNL-BOS non-stop flight entirely and replaced by an HNL-SEA-BOS connecting flight (probably a change of planes in SEA to Alaska). As for Delta, the last time I flew to LAX on Delta, it was a decrepit 767 interior where the audio jacks didn’t work and the charging ports were so loose that one could not get an electrical connection.
It is very unlikely the widebodies fly the coop at least for a while. For one thing 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 2 narrowbody gate.
You may see some mainland tag routes, ie HNL-SEA-JFK or HNL-SEA-ANC to increase the WB utilization but probably not much more that that initially.