Alaska-Hawaiian Airlines Merge, Will Molokai Benefit?

Image Courtesy of Alaska Airlines.

Alaska Airlines completed the purchase of Hawaiian Airlines with a $1.9 billion deal on Sept. 18. The merger was proposed last December and approved by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation on Sept. 17 with certain stipulations including continued neighbor island flights and support for Essential Air Service (EAS). While the deal will affect many travel options in and out of Hawaii, it will not change the transportation reality for Molokai.

Incoming CEO of Hawaiian, Joe Sprague, explained in an interview with the Dispatch that he is “feeling the heavy responsibility associated with bringing these two companies together…and is hopeful about the future.”

As part of the merger, Hawaiian is instituting a Huaka’i program for Hawaii residents, which is intended to bring down travel costs by offering special discounts and advantages on neighbor island flights.

Likewise, Hawaiian members with miles and rewards will be able to rollover these miles and benefits into the combined airline.

With the Dept. of Transportation’s approval of the merger came specific instructions for the new airline combination to continue service to rural communities.

“The combined airline must preserve its support for EAS in Alaska’s and Hawaii’s small, rural communities where such service is a lifeline to health care, education, and economic well-being,” reads the notice from the Dept. of Transportation.

While this language seems to apply specifically to places like Molokai, which relies exclusively on interisland flights for many critical services, Sprague explained that Hawaiian will not be reinstituting its ‘Ohana flight program or scheduling any flights to Molokai.

‘Ohana by Hawaiian officially stopped flying to Molokai in June of 2021, citing declines in profitability due to COVID. Sprague explained that the 48-seater ATR-42 planes which ‘Ohana was flying are no longer part of Hawaiian, and that no planes in the 350 aircraft inventory of the combined Alaska-Hawaiian fleet are available for flying to Molokai.

“The length of the runway and other airport limitations on Molokai and Lanai just don’t allow us to operate our airplanes to those locations,” said Sprague.

Sprague also explained that even if the Molokai airport was opened up to an EAS bid, like what happened for Lanai earlier this year, that Hawaiian is not in a position to even make a bid.

“We wouldn’t bid for an EAS route unless we could actually fly it with our own airplanes, so the simple answer is no.”

Sprague explained that Hawaiian is instead focusing on supporting Mokulele Airlines. To this end, Hawaiian has entered into an interline agreement with Mokulele, which is a very basic ticketing agreement whereby passengers can travel more easily between the airlines.

“We have offered Mokulele to be a resource for them,” said Sprague. “We are engaging regularly with them…We want to be part of the solution of providing reliable service to Molokai and Lanai.”

Sprague and other Alaska Airlines officials came to Molokai with U.S. Congressional Representative Jill Tokuda back in March to hear concerns from the community about unstable flight service.

“That [meeting] was incredibly helpful for us to learn more about the impact air service has on those communities,” said Sprague. “It’s something we will stay close to and keep a close eye on.”