Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines to merge

[jis]

Looks like Alaska and Hawaiian are on a path to merger...

https://thepointsguy.com/news/alask...b58e8b027f35cc0d7c1297028d9e46c674d4dacf68b82

 

[railiner]

Looks like Alaska and Hawaiian are on a path to merger...

https://thepointsguy.com/news/alask...b58e8b027f35cc0d7c1297028d9e46c674d4dacf68b82

As are Jet Blue and Spirit. If that happens, it would make Southwest unique as being the only US airline that has never merged with another...

 

[Alexandria Nick]

Southwest merged with AirTran (formerly ValuJet).

 

[railiner]

Southwest merged with AirTran (formerly ValuJet).

Oh...I had forgotten that one...good catch!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Southwest merged with (or acquired assets from) Muse Air, Morris Air, and ATA Airlines before AirTran.

 

[jiml]

The merged airline will be part of the Oneworld alliance, opening up redemption opportunities for those of us in AA purgatory. Whether they open up availability, particularly to Hawaii where they have a lot of flights, remains to be seen. Getting a mileage flight to the islands through AA has ranged between difficult and unaffordable.

 

[railiner]

The merged airline will be part of the Oneworld alliance, opening up redemption opportunities for those of us in AA purgatory. Whether they open up availability, particularly to Hawaii where they have a lot of flights, remains to be seen. Getting a mileage flight to the islands through AA has ranged between difficult and unaffordable.

Agreed. AA never took the opportunities it could have, to expand their intra-west coast services. It acquired Air Cal and Reno Air, but shortly after, obliterated their route networks.
Las Vegas used to be a hub for America West, but not anymore. AA only seems to be strong in Phoenix now, and LAX to some extent.
So having Alaska and Hawaiian in their One World alliance fills that vacuum…

 

[Anderson]

Agreed. AA never took the opportunities it could have, to expand their intra-west coast services. It acquired Air Cal and Reno Air, but shortly after, obliterated their route networks.
Las Vegas used to be a hub for America West, but not anymore. AA only seems to be strong in Phoenix now, and LAX to some extent.
So having Alaska and Hawaiian in their One World alliance fills that vacuum…

It doesn't hurt that AS was moving into Oneworld, which gave the alliance a significant presence in Seattle/Portland/SFO (and buffered LAX) already.
My guess, FWIW, is that this leads to HA bailing on the Hawaii-[Not-West-Coast] routes since they'll get clear feed from AA via LAX (in particular) and AS via SEA (in particular). That said, with some of the long-haul aircraft I think AS might be able to flip to a few "direct" TPAC routes (where AA is kinda weak), and I wouldn't be too surprised to see (say) AA take over the longer runs to HNL (now getting feed via HA's mini-hub there).

Basically, this isn't likely to create a lot of non-stop routes, but it does create a bunch of interesting, altered one-stop possibilities within Oneworld without needing to use some of the Asian carriers.

 

[flitcraft]

Southwest merged with (or acquired assets from) Muse Air...

Ah, I remember Muse Air, the first all no-smoking airline. We flew it from New Orleans to Houston, and they provided little packets of gum, snacks, puzzles etc. so that smokers would be able to bear the flight without nicotine...