Here's How the Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Could Affect Your Future Flights

 

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While the DOT ultimately okay’d the acquisition, it did impose a few specific conditions: Alaska Air Group must maintain all frequent flyer benefits and rewards earned for Hawaiian Airlines frequent flyers, as well as a few essential routes between the islands. It also included a few more nuanced stipulations aimed at ensuring the merger wouldn’t block out future flight competitors or reduce airport convenience and access for local travelers.

The merger was especially controversial as the US already has an extremely small number of airlines that hold almost all the market share. In the 1980s, there were nearly 80 airlines operating in the US. But after decades of frequent mergers, government bailouts and payments, bankruptcies, and deregulation across nearly all aspects of the airline industry, just four major airlines (Delta, United, Southwest, and American) now control nearly 70 percent of the aviation industry in the US. After the new Alaska-Hawaiian merger, Alaska Air Group will represent an additional eight percent of the market. That leaves a roughly 20 percent market share for other airlines, making it very difficult for new airlines to compete. A lack of competition can lead to collusion, high prices, and limited travel options.

The last Virgin America-branded flight flew in 2018, following the 2016 purchase by Alaska Air Group. Photo: Eliyahu Yosef Parypa/Shutterstock

The last major merger between two US airlines occurred in 2016, when Alaska Airlines acquired Virgin America. That $2.6 billion purchase allowed Alaska to expand its presence in key markets like California and was seen at the time as the start of a plan to gain enough market share to compete with bigger airlines.

Alaska announced that for now, it intends to preserve the branding and regional identity of Hawaiian Airlines and is not planning to rebrand the airline as part of Alaska Airlines. However, the purchase will make Honolulu the second-largest hub for the airline, headquartered in Seattle.

Travelers will be able to book flights on both Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines via both airlines’ websites. Photo: Emil Kazaryan/Shutterstock

In the near future, you’re not likely to notice much of an impact of the merger if you’re flying either airline; full integration will likely take at least 18 months. In the next few weeks, consumer-facing integrations will allow frequent fliers to move their miles between airlines and spend miles on either airline, and travelers with lounge access on Alaska Airlines will be able to use the lounges when flying on Hawaiian Airlines. It’s unlikely any routes will be cut, as maintaining each airlines’ routes was a condition of DOT approval. Another upcoming change will be to the booking process, as travelers will be able to book flights on either airline through AlaskaAir.com and HawaiianAirlines.com.

Photo: Ajax9/Shutterstock

For now, it’s hard to say what the impacts of the Alaska-Hawaiian merger will be for travelers. The only impact known for sure is that Alaska will be creating a new loyalty program that includes both airlines, likely to launch in mid-2025. “We’re working on combining the best of Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles into a new unified loyalty program for our guests,” writes the press release, with no additional details released, as of September 19.

The DOT gave its blessing for the merger, but the actual process of merging is a slow one. Next steps include regulatory approvals from the DOT, requiring lots of paperwork and filings to received a “single operating certificate” from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which it needs to operate the two airlines as one. Alaska will also need to meet conditions of the approval, like maintaining routes and ensuring frequent flyers don’t lose any benefits they’ve earned. Interestingly, there’s no expiration date on those conditions, and the DOT will likely monitor Alaska Airlines for several years to ensure compliance. But theoretically, those conditions could be lifted at any time, allowing Alaska Airlines to make decisions as it sees fit about what routes to cut or what to charge.