Hawaiian Airlines could be one step closer to joining the Oneworld alliance following approval by US regulators for a US$1.9bn buyout by Alaska Airlines.
The merger of the Seattle- and Honolulu-based carriers will result in what Alaska describes as “a single operation with two public-facing brands, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines,” each operating from their respective hub.
This could also see Hawaiian Airlines become a member of Oneworld – and thus a fully-fledged partner with the likes of Qantas, Cathay Pacific, JAL and many other top-tier airlines.
“I think (Alaska) have said that when we are all one airline that the Hawaiian Airlines brand, which will be a brand underneath the operating platform of Alaska Airlines, will be a part of Oneworld,” Hawaiian Airlines Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Avi Mannis told Executive Traveller earlier this year.
“And at some point then from an alliance perspective, we’ll look at Oneworld. But none of that’s going to happen overnight.”
Post-merger, the Hawaiian Airlines brand will remain.
As to Oneworld itself, “It’s something we’ll have to see in due course, right?”, Customer Experience chief Gerhard Girkinger told Executive Traveller on the sidelines of the opening of the Oneworld Seoul Lounge.
“We’ve not had any conversations (on the topic) and we wouldn’t comment on that even if we had, but no, at the moment, we’ll see how this transpires and what Alaska’s plan and the joint entity’s plan is.”
But should the stars align, might Hawaiian Airlines be welcomed into the Oneworld family?
“I think every customer would probably like to have an additional ability to get across the Pacific (but) ultimately it’s the airline’s decision and it’s our member airlines’ decision to add another airline… generally all of that goes through an approval process, through our governing board and our CEOs, and we’d follow that as we do with any other airline.”
A single rewards program
On the loyalty front, Alaska and Hawaiian will also share “a single, compelling loyalty offering” – in other words, Alaska’s own Mileage Plan frequent flyer scheme will likely replace the HawaiianMiles platform (unless a rebranding of Mileage Plan or an all-new program is o the cards).
This alone would provide Hawaiian Airlines’ frequent flyers “the ability to earn and redeem miles on 29 global partners and receive elite benefits on the full complement of Oneworld alliance airlines (and) expanded global lounge access,” the airlines said in a joint statement when the merger was announced in December 2023.
Hawaiian Airlines says the status and miles held by HawaiianMiles members will be transferred to Alaska’s Mileage Plan, including matching its Pualani Elite Gold and Platinum members to Alaska’s equivalent MVP Gold tiers.
The coming years look like busy ones for the Oneworld alliance, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Oman Air is due to join Oneworld towards the end of year, with Fiji Airways joining Oneworld in 2025 (and also adopting the AAdvantage program of American Airlines as its loyalty scheme).