What do you think about the proposed acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines? (thank you for the comments that pointed out that this is an acquisition, not a merger, per se.)
Due to the politicians and cops Hawaiian airlines doing this, they let 1 person go from that airline that has been with them for even a minute prior to this , I will not go to Hawaii anymore.
I really think that the CEO and the board members and shareholders should have done something with getting the people of Hawai’i and tourists from the mainland involved with their decisions and business. In my opinion they should have asked the Governor of Hawai’i to assist them in whatever means possible. I always flew Aloha Airlines because it was the name that the business owners had to keep their own character and presence with the island folks. I personally don’t fly to Hawai’i every year but when I do I fly with Hawaiian Airlines. The last time I was back home was for my mother’s passing and services in 2016. I have flown almost every major airlines in the United States and overseas to Japan, South Korea and Australia. Again, in the future the Hawaiian airlines will just be history like Aloha Airlines. Chris I was just as surprised as you and everyone else. But in my experience of flying I’ve seen the best disappear. Just to name a few Pan American, Continental, Braniff, Northwest. All these airlines in my day was the best. Especially Pan American and Northwest. Now I’m really curious about how they will manage the inter island flights?? Anyway, I did fly on JAL, and Alaska eons ago. Take Care of yourself and your family and Mele Kalikimaka Meka Hauoli Makahikihou.
It's not a merger hawaiian airline is getting bought out. I think the miles are getting combined between Alaska and hawaiian can be used for both and one world alliance member airline
I flew from the mainland on Hawaiian airline a few times, and island hopped many more times. Always made me feel my vacation started the minute I got on the plane. It’s gonna be sad if they change the aloha spirit.
Exactly. I got HAL, SWA, and Alaska flying from my home airport to HNL and I'll always pick HAL because the second I step on the plane w/ Pualani on the tail, I'm in Hawaiʻi.
Brah. Like usual, you're right on the mark! I totally agree with your assessment. As as soon as I heard the announcement, I was excited for the future of commercial aviation in Hawaii. As a former Washington State resident, now living on Oahu for almost a dozen years, I have fond memories of my Alaska Airline experiences. As you pointed out, Alaska's customer-service sence and business acumen can't help but give a boost to Hawaiian. Also as a likely takeover candidate, having Alaska be the buyer is a far superior notion than them being bought out by one of the other major carriers!
I feel like customer experience and customer expectation are one and the same. When people say that I didn’t enjoy my flight or my experience didn’t meet my expectation, that is something that you set individually. Your example of thinking that Hawaiian Airlines controls how the TSA lines are setup or even has a say in how the airport is run is untrue. As someone has commented earlier, all Hawaii Airports fall under the jurisdiction of State of Hawaii DOT. Regarding TSA clearance, passengers do not only have to utilize the TSA checkpoints in Terminal 1 when flying on Hawaiian. Those checkpoints are the closest to the Hawaiian Airlines gates, but any TSA checkpoint can be used to enter the airport. For your International return. Since Hawaiian Airlines only operates one flight daily, the ticket counters only open for that flight. The counters are not staffed like other airlines. The ticket counter will open usually 2-3 hours prior to check-in. Normally this information is available to passengers either on their itinerary or somewhere near the counters. I agree though, JAL & ANA are amazing at what they do. Almost any Japanese Airline is amazing. It is in their culture. So, flying in and out of Japan, it is always a safe bet to fly with a Japan Based airline. I feel that your comparison is an unfair comparison. When you compare JAL to Hawaiians JAL will always win. A fairer comparison would be Hawaiian to United or Delta flying into Japan. I am not saying that you are wrong but I feel that your comparison is unfair. I do agree that the loss of Aloha Airlines was a sad moment for Hawaii but to say that Hawaiian Airlines felt that they had nothing to worry about is farther from the truth. Trying to give the passengers the fares they wanted, to balance that against rising fuel prices and increasing costs, is a fine line. Again, passenger expectations are also changing. Many passengers expect a First Class experience for a Main Cabin price. As someone who is in the industry and is affected by this acquisition, I can say that we have been trying. Trying to keep the fares lower so that families can travel but then offering more onboard the aircraft without increasing cost is next to impossible but if you don’t, then you’re not meeting their expectations. As far as your comment on culture, I think you’re confusing what you think is culture with what is your service expectation. The culture of an airline resides in this employees. To say that Hawaiian’s culture needs some help is to say that its employees need help to meet “your” expectations. That would be an unfair statement.
Mahalo for the comment. Appreciate the feedback. To comment on what you stated about culture, I'm moreso talking about a culture of striving for improved customer service. To me, that culture is set by leadership and managers.
Not totally true. While Alaska indeed doesn’t run TSA, they have spent a LOT of money working with airports to remodel and rearrange lobbies and security screening areas to make them better.
We’ve had many good flights on Hawaiian over 33 years with destinations like Boston, Phoenix and Portland. Recently we needed to get to Wyoming so Alaska Airlines provided the route. It was a really good experience as well. Hopefully the airlines won’t hold us captive with rates already higher than current rates. I hope the best outcome for the employees. The employees make or break the experience. ✈️🤞🏻✈️🤞🏻🌸🌺
Interesting thoughts. Compared to some larger airlines, Hawaiian has been a breath of pleasant fresh air for us, traveling from the east coast. Hope that continues.
Yes, once Aloha was dissolved, Hawaiian Air became the monopoly. Even after Southwest came and setup business here, Hawaiian still had majority of the business, especially with the mainland flights. The setup with Southwest Airlines inter-island flights were somewhat weird. They were cheaper and bags were free, but not having assigned seat was a deal breaker for me. I'm glad Alaska aquired Hawaiian, maybe now the service will be much better.
for an inter island flight without a seat assignment it's no big deal. But flying to the mainland most definitely a big problem. Esp with no power outlets. @@HelloFromHawaii
Here is my opinion on the topic that differs with your viewpoint on the topic. 1) I initially believe that the merger should be blocked by the DOJ because there will be 100% issues on the keeping of the two brands which might not work in the current setup of the aviation industry. Certificate of Aviation is issued to only one holding company brand so unless I’m mistaken the FEDs would need to create a new rule to allow 2 COA’s being held for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, but prior mergers it has to be put under 1 COA. There is a false hope of keeping 2 brands alive and it will eventually be swallowed up by Alaska Airlines. They mentioned that only 12% of the routes overlap but another pilot from another airline said it’s actually 25% of west coast routes so more research needs to be done and that is a dramatic swing in numbers. 2) Hawaiian miles and Pualani status is very important because there are a lot of customers in Hawaii, especially the elderly who has Platinum status (most likely flying to Vegas or Japan a lot lol) will get demoted because on Alaska Air website the Platinum is actually equal to Gold on their system and Pualani Gold is silver on their system. The issue of keeping the miles is important because if they are to argue the case that their access to the OneWorld Alliance is good, then you will need the mileage to be able to purchase the perks on the other airlines on OneWorld. Plus Hawaiian has had the most consumer friendly access to gaining status tier because Platinum is 60 segments or 40,000 miles. Whereas many of the other carriers that will only get Silver tier really which isn’t much of a benefit when you research what Silver is on other airlines. Also a lot of other airlines are going away from mileage accumulation to where they base it on how much you pay for the ticket and what class of ticket it is so you have to spend a ton of money to even get into the basic tiers. That is what a lot of consumers here in Hawaii are concerned because we are manini compared to other flyers and will get demoted severely down the ranks. 3) Also your statement about HA was a horrible experience is skewed and bias because there are factors of how the airport systems in USA and especially with Honolulu is operated. If you look really carefully airports are usually operated a Transit Authority or some type of incorporation but HNL is actually controlled by the State DOT which is a crap show in itself when you realize it took over 30 years to build the H3 and just look how long its taking Rail and it’s not even going to Ala Moana. One of the most red tape corrupted dept in Hawaii. To also seperate TSA the airlines actually have to help fund TSA for more lanes from what I remember plus all the TSA’s in HNL no matter Terminal 1 or 2, they handle both Domestic and International passengers unlike in Japan where they have separate terminals for Domestic and International. Also HA competes on the value proposition to compete on International routes and is almost a mix of Low Cost Carrier service and Regular Carrier services. 4) JAL is actually the Joint Venture Partner with Hawaiian so they handle their operations in Japan. The reason why you couldn’t check into HA in Narita while everyone else is opened is because the kiosks they are assigned to have to share with other carriers usually and they need HA employee with the JAL employees to help with check in and for the USA way of operations it’s 3 hours prior to departure is the earliest you can check in, vs in Japan you can check in when the airport kiosks opens even if you are the last flight of the day at Narita. I flew out of Fukuoka and there was a very long line also but because I was Platinum even though I was in economy, I could walk into the Business class line to check in which cut right through line. 5) When looking at the financials and the challenges that HA is facing, Alaska would be a good pairing because Alaska doesn’t have any international routes into Asia and to grow bigger the quickest without taking many years acquiring SLOTs at various airports and hiring and training and buying planes, it’s through a merger. Also HA being under valued is open hunting season with bigger airlines and actually one airline i could see trying to buy would be Delta since they have lost their good access routes to Japan after giving up their Narita Hub/Kitchen and relying on Korean Airlines on SkyTeam Alliance to then use Incheon as their hub for Asian flights, and doing a hostile takeover of HA would give them the slots of Japan back. 6) Another scary thing is Alaska buying out Virgin America and that was a crap show too so they don’t have a good record on buy outs.
Appreciate the comment and insight. There's a lot to respond to, but hard to do through comments. Again, thanks for taking the time to write out what you did. 🤙
As a company, do you think that Hawaiian would be able survive and rebound financially? Everyone agrees that Hawaiian Airlines stock is greatly undervalued but without some kind of financial infusion, I feel that Hawaiian Airlines could go the way of Aloha Airlines. With its rich 94 year history, no one from Hawaii wants to see it fail. If one were to step back, is what Alaska trying to do the worse thing that could be happening right now? If not Alaska, then who? American, United, Delta & Southwest. The big four, who control 80% of the market. I agree that Elite Status with any airline is a highly valued commodity and should not be lost but is that truly the largest concern on the table? Many of the concerns that many people bring up are consumer centric. This merger is financial centric. With 0.9 billion dollars of debt weighing Hawaiian Airlines down, an aging Neighbor island fleet, ever increasing competition from carriers intent of pushing Hawaiian Airlines out, sadly they have their cards stacked against them. This acquisition seems like to most secure way to keep our homegrown airline alive. Yes, what Alaska is proposing has never been done before. Does that mean that they cannot attempt to do it? I feel that although this acquisition is not the perfect way to do this, it is currently the best thing of the table.
@@HALLover808 it is a good business choice for Alaska to buy out Hawaiian. Just don’t have confidence in how they handled how the Virgin America buy out went. Did service and other things improve for the consumer when Alaska bought them out? Was it good for the consumer to let aloha go bankrupt and not get the bankruptcy protection and bail out? Prices went high after aloha folded so hopefully with some case study from the party then the government can be more demanding on the terms of the buy out if they let it go through.
I'm surprised at your experience with Hawn to Japan sure was a bummer, but concerning the merger with Alaskan Air my first thought was back to .Aloha , I heard of fammilies with both spouses losing their jobs & homes, & always the buyer will say "don't worry everything remains the stay but 6 months down the road people will be laid off, "we have too much redundancy so some must go " employees of both companies are now subject to be cut. I have seen it happen too many times sad but true Good Luck to all those involved ❤
Being from Seattle, I always noticed that flights with Hawaiian were much lower. The catch was you had to fly through Honolulu (at least from Seattle) instead of a non-stop from an Alaska hub...so your concerns about prices rises are valid.
As long as SouthWest is in the marketplace; things will be fine $$ wise. Not really fair to compare Japan Air to any USA based airlines since the country of Japan is subsidizing JAL.
Southwest comes in for a few years with low fares to build their customer base and then brings prices up to the same or even higher than its competitors. But they that short term low fare builds the brand as low cost. They’re really aren’t.
I flew Hawaiin airline back in the day when internet over the Pacific Ocean wasn't an option. I LOVED them. But over the years, Delta, and Alaska have provided none interrupted internet services to people, and that's when I gave up on Hawaiin. None of their flights have wifi when flying to the mainland. I just dont' think it's acceptable any longer.. I still fly them on all inter island flights though. I really think this is one of the best merger/ acquisition in a long time. I hope this can happen!
Confusing statements. In the title and the description, the words buy out are used. But then in the pinned comment, it says merger. Merger implicates that they are about equal value and they are coming together. The term buyout is very appropriate because AK is paying 4X the stock value for HI meaning they have the big bags of capital to do it. Realistically HI knew they couldn't get around this because they either went voluntarily or it would have been hostile. Now in regards to keeping both brands...there's no way for them to do it adequately. For the old timers, there was Longs and then CVS took over and while the name stayed the same, the look, the feel, the treatments were all different. Doing the same job, but all the rules in the background had changed. This is what's coming between AK and HI.
@@HelloFromHawaii acquisition is the better word. Under the paint, graphics, and uniforms there will only be one airline. Alaska. People like to compare the Virgin American acquisition but the two are completely different. VX leased everything. The name was leased from Branson, all the planes were leased… to keep the virgin name they would have had to continue paying royalties forever which didn’t make sense. With Hawaiian the brand is part of the deal. It shouldn’t be that difficult to keep the aircraft painted with the HA brand (although I’m sure they will be updated and a “Hawaiian By Alaska Airlines”,) separate website (same backend,) different uniforms (depending on the flights you work.) Overall it’s going to be a great thing!🎉
I flew Virgin America for years, then they were merged/bought by Alaska. They honored the frequent flyer status for almost 2 years. Alaska is a good airline. For the Islands, it sounded like the combined airline will be managed from Seattle. That may affect jobs.
I don’t think you understand that the TSA security lines at the HNL airport are not controlled by Hawaiian Airlines. You can enter the HNL airport from ANY TSA security line from any terminal as long as you have a valid boarding pass departing on that day. Thankfully, the State of Hawaii has finished construction on new security screening areas in Terminal 1, so those long lines are a thing of the past.
I fly Alaska 5 or 6 trips a year. Other than during covid I have never had a bad experience. I used to fly Hawaiian but I had too many issues. Like if you live on the Big Island no direct flights to Washington. Gotta go Hnl. They are militant on carry-on size and weight. I have never had my carry-on weighed by Alaska. Oh....not merger it is an acquisition. Great video. One final comment....Alaska has one of the most generous mileage plans. I use mine to buy tickets for my kids to visit in Kona.
I always thought Hawaiian Air had something unique to it, but I recently flew with United and was surprised that they had local staff, spoke Hawaiian phrases. They had more flexible flight schedules and the United terminal is directly across the street from the rental car building. I still prefer flying Hawaiian when visiting but I am more open to shopping around when needed.
Alaska inflight service and aircraft is just as good or better thsn Hawaiian. I have flown both for over 30 years and have friends/ relatives that work for both.
Great video. In regards to your experience with the TSA line going to Japan, is that Hawaiian's miss or Honolulu Airport or TSA's? I agree with the JAL experience and the level of service you receive with most Asia based carriers. Their level of service is a couple levels above US carriers. A better comparison might be between a domestic Hawaiian Air flight vs. another domestic carrier's service. Or an international flight with US based carriers.(Hawaiian vs. Delta, Hawaiian vs. American etc.) Thanks.
Maybe both Hawaiian and the Honolulu Airport. But I just didn't understand why we're all going through one line. I think Hawaiian split off their international flights so it's better now. Wish they would have done that years ago.
Thanks for the video. I have to agree with you about the customer service at Hawaiian. Wait 30 to 45 minutes for checked luggage. Customer service lines are ridiculously long. Hawaiian is way behind other airlines in their app and website. Cannot cancel or change flights online forcing you to call their customer service which is composed of agents in another country (definitely not locals). The agents are nice enough but they often don't know what they are doing and put you on hold for long periods of time to ask someone else.
Just spent most of my Hawaiian miles for a trip to the Cook Islands in January. Rumor going around right now is that the DOJ is going to block the acquisition. Not really charging to my Hawaiian credit card till the official news comes out, and if it is blocked I'm most likely going to cancel it and go find another airline card.
Thank you for sharing.😊😊 Alaska Airlines does not have wide body aircraft in their small aircraft fleet! I hope they just combined to each other not changing names.
I don’t fly Hawaiian air much but the times I did, I had good experiences. If the purchase goes through, my assumption is Hawaiian airlines miles will convert to Alaska airline miles. When that happens, those who hoarded Hawaiian airline miles should be smiling big because Alaska airline miles are known to have lowest redemption rate when getting award tickets on other One World airline partners. But finding those redemption opportunities these days is another matter! Btw, JAL isn’t the only Asian airlines with great customer service, try ANA, EVA, China Airlines (Taiwan based), Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines. These airlines are known to have great inflight customer service that would put any American based airlines to shame.
If this goes through, I would like to see more inter island connectivity, like operations from West Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, maybe bring back Ohana? And ad more services and destinations like Denver
I've been flying at least once a year for a while. Much more during my college years. I didn't fly this year, but we are planning a trip for next year.
As a 50 year Alaskan resident; get over it. I also lived in Hawaii a few years and I don't think when Aloha Airlines went away it didn't generate the same fuss. As you mentioned, AK Airlines is HQd in Seattle. AK Airlines began as a small regional air charter service in SE AK in the 1930s (float planes) and has morphed over the years to what it's becom today. Generally, AK Airlines (in AK) provides pretty good service. It's been better, and worse like everything else. AK Airlines also sub -contracts flights in AK to the smaller and oftentimes VERY remote parts of our state. They have a handle on customers, fares, expectations, service and "mileage". Trust me your "outer islands" in Hawaii don't compare to our Dutch Harbor or the outer Aleutian's or Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It'll work out fine. A good chunk of the air crews and flight staff don't even live in AK which I suspect hold true to a lesser degree in Hawaii. Perhaps not.
Such an excellent topic. I’ve never thought about the Hawaiian miles. Maybe for those that travel a lot or use the Hawaiian miles on a credit card. Then it might work out for those who use the miles for family trips. I’ll have to say that Hawaiian airlines was too strict on baggage fees which discouraged some from using Hawaiian airlines. But I agree the brand of Hawaiian Airlines was not my favorite. I totally miss Aloha Airlines. And I find that Hawaiian airlines monopolized and did nit do well with discounts for locals. And south west does a better job and no luggage fees. And the customer service is better on south west in my opinion. Maybe Alaska airlines can teach Hawaiian airlines can improve their experience and their fees. They charge for everything. Which is horrible. The terminal is better now. But I don’t use Hawaiian when traveling to visit family. Hopefully there are more positive experience with this merger. Aloha from the Big Island.
When the two milage plans merge the Hawaiian people will be the disadvantaged ones. Alaska is not going to reduce the miles. For a long time it was thought that United would buy Hawaiian. Your analysis of Jal vs HA is spot on. If you are not a Pualani elite you will have to wait in their long lines. Of course almost all non-US Asian airlines are better than a US airline.
Alaska Airlines will do to Hawaiian Airlines what it did to Virgin America. Then they will replace all the pretty flight attendants with Alaska's hag division.
Totally agree with you on Hawaiian brand. Not a fan. The customer experience sucks. The flight crew are fine, but my goodness, customer service is not up to par. I’ll pay more and fly another airline, and I have. Much more reliable and less stress doing so.
If CVS dropped the Longs Drug name when they took over, I'm certain they would've lost a lot of customers too. If Pualani were to disappear from the tail fin, it would be a sad day for the parent company and we in Hawaii. I was loyal to Aloha Airlines back in the day and lost all my miles when they went down. Luv the 737. I've never flown Hawaiian to the mainland but will do so for the first-time next month. Flew mostly Omni when they were active with Vacations Hawaii. Delta and United are my preferred airlines now, depending on destination.
Hopefully you enjoy the mainland flight. I've flown a lot of different airlines back and forth over the years. Nothing like those seats and local crew, though, to remind you of home. 🤙
Either you love Hawaiian or you don’t. You obviously don’t but you are trying to be fair on your assessment of the buy out. When Aloha went out of business, Hawaiian hired many of their employees. Many! They were good employees but no better or worse than Hawaiian Airlines. I once applied for a flight attendant position at Aloha. When an applicant left the interview room, I could hear the interviewers laughing and talking about the applicant. Not a class act! Hawaiian was the opposite. A class act. From their advertising to their corporate culture; always a class act. No bad mouthing the competition. No making fun of the completion. Yes, Hawaiian has made many mistakes and was never on time but they have improved their service and have managed to survive in a such a volatile field. They are one of Hawaiis largest employers. Aloha, Hawaii’s Airline? Perhaps one of them but not the one that my family flew often.
I’ve never been much of a fan of Hawaiian airlines. They have an old worn out fleet and poorly trained cabin crews. The buy out proposal may turn out to be a good thing but you’ve got to wonder about the impact on fares? What we really need is high speed ferries between the islands. It would be so much more convenient, especially compared to flights in or out of HNL.
Concur. HA to Japan can’t compare to JL. Biz class seats (except for 2-2-2 HA vs 1-2-1 JAL) comparable. Service also. The big difference was in Economy. JL standard economy comparable to HA extra comfort in leg space without the added cost. I think JL rated as best economy industry wide. The food in JL economy was much better too. The loco moco on HA TYO-HNL was pretty bad. HA to CONUS on the best in wide body aircraft compared to US airline competitors (except Delta). My $0.02. I hope for improvement too.
I hope Hawaiian doesn't convert to the long layovers like Alaska with less scheduled connecting flights. Enjoyed the companion benefit on Alaska. Alaska flys into Tri Cities Washington 👍🏼. I used Hawaiian on parts of my multi flight travel last year. I had a great trip!
After 17 years working at Las Vegas airport it was bittersweet hearing the news. Hopefully the "Hawaiian" brand and Aloha Spirit will stay intact. Although, bottom line Alaska provides way way way better service than Hawaiian recent years. Another thing, the only thing Hawaiian/Local about Hawaiian Air is the employees. The company is as haole as can be.
I travel from Kauai to Oahu once a month and the Hawaiian Island miles are helpful -I rarely pay more than the tax. There is also nostalgia living on Kauai through hurricanes,pandemic,and always seeing the Hawaiian Airlines plane arrive on Kauai through severe weather conditions. I travel to Italy yearly and Alitalia failed but ITA replaced them and they are more progressive-feel like Hawaiian is a little fake I agree that the CEO of Alaska is well spoken and a leader -
It's a merger that makes sense. They have similar corporate cultures, and more importantly, complimentary routes. Alaska is more domestic, whereas Hawaiian has flights to Asia and Polynesia. There will be a storming phase where the operations merge, but once everyone grooves right the new airline will perform to our expectations. Hawaiian also had no choice; oil prices, low demand, competition, and the attitude towards tourism was killing the airline. Its death was a matter of when, not if.
Has anyone tried the economy seats in H-Airline recently? It is so tight, my kid can barely sit. It was a surprise after the pandemic. Since then I have to book premium economy or other airlines. When an organization cuts down services while their competitors do not, you know that organization is in trouble. Hope their service gets better. Why didn't they serve mini-Zippy's or something (for $)? You were right. When there was not much of competition, you have no motivation to innovate and to improve.
My advice is buy Hawaiian stock on Dec. 1st and sell Dec. 4th 🎇 But anyway, Hawaiian won't change much, just being acquired by the bigger carrier Alaska based in Seattle. Yes, better to be Hawaii based, but it's not going to be like Continental disappearing into United. 11:30 Get pre-check and/or Global Entry and skip the line.
There is a comment posted noting neither airlines competed for routes. Therefore, prices should remain stable and the positive flight experience might increase. This should help keep discount airlines like Southwest or Spirit Air from making a bully move to grab Hawai'i flight routes.
Hawaii as an island is done. I visited it earlier this year and about 20 years ago, I handled Hawaii as a part of my job responsibility. I was shocked how bad Honolulu looked compared to 20 years ago. The Hawaii brand is a global brand but Alaska is not. If the CEO is smart, they will use Hawaii to expand to Asia and become an international airline.
I love ANA and JAL more than US airlines. Their leg room space is so generous for economy fares compared to HAL and other US airlines. As far as Hawaiian, I like that their staff is from Hawaii so they have the Hawaiian culture instilled in them. What I don’t like is that airlines now have basic economy with no seat selection and main cabin with seat selection but at a higher price. Then to make matters worse, you have to pay more for certain seats in the economy section that are just “more popular .” Anything to squeeze more money out of us. I flew Alaska Airlines a lot when my son what going to college in Washington State. Service was good and fares were reasonable. But I think when Covid hit our economy and the President decided to shut down fracking, it became a double whammy which resulted in much higher prices all around.
My favorite scene from "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" was where Steve is yelling at Bill for copying the look and feel of the graphical user interface from the Mac, then Bill reminded Steve that he basically stole the idea from Xerox.
Nice video...mahalo...Wish we would have taken this type of "fresh" prospective when Next Era wanted to buy HECO...instead it was "we don't need The Mainland to take us over, we got this". Well you've seen the results of that one! Hawaiian was / is in a bit of financial trouble so either way they need the help. probably better Alaska than bankruptcy protection,
I've got a friend who flies on Alaskan all the time (to/from Alaska, it's his home state) and I've never heard the slightest complaint. This is funny to me because I've already decided I'm going to fly on Alaska back home there to Hawaii next year.
Having moved away the year before Hawaiian Airlines lost half the roof in flight in 83, I'm surprised they've survived this long. Figure the settlements alone would have wiped them out.
I almost got accepted for an interview as a FA then Aloha Airlines stopped flying around end of March 2008 so Hawaiian took most of the FA's right away which sucked for me and other potential candidates.
You can thank the state of Hawaii for driving another business out of the state. Hawaiian is one of the largest employers in the state. The job loss will be massive. Voting has consequences….
The state is actively trying to destroy your one industry too, tourism. They keep raising the accomodation tax without offering anything else in return. If I want a tropical paradise, I can go to Tahiti or Fiji, both of which are significantly cheaper than Hawaii. You're digging your own grave, but unfortunately most of the locals are too blind and keep voting the same idiots into power.
I'm disappointed the culture of service and fun that Virgin America had as a carrier didn't really seem to rub off on Alaska in that merger. I miss all those flights I had on Virgin
I hear what you’re saying about the customer service experience. I’ve read people complaining, but my experience was always flying first class so my opinion is probably a little skewed.
@@HelloFromHawaii I hope that didn’t sound arrogant! It’s definitely expensive, but going to Hawaii is usually about a 16-20 hour travel day for us so I always like to get lie flat so we aren’t completely exhausted when we get there. I purchase everything for my business on a card and use the miles, it usually works out well. Inflation has definitely kept us from coming as frequently as we’d like to though!
Comparing Hawaiian Air to JAL is a no brainer(JAL is on another level vs Hawaiian or any other airline for that matter United/Delta/SW/etc). Yes, Hawaiian Air has many things it could improve on, but don't all the other US airlines have problems too?. The thing with Hawaiian Air is that Hawaii is a very loyal culture(ohana), that's why they always shop at Longs or stay at the California Hotel(in Vegas). Just the feeling of flying in a plane with mostly Hawaii people(vs another airline full of mainland people) or staying at a hotel in Vegas with mostly Hawaii people is very comforting. My biggest concern with this merger is what will happen to the benefits from my Bank of Hawaii, Hawaiian Air credit card?.
I when I saw the merger...again, not too thrilled. I was a Virgin Anericca Elevate program member. The staff was a more upbeat and fun to chat with. They had newer aircraft. Once Alaska assimilated all of Virgin America, I lost my miles. Hope this does not happen to Hawaiian.
Monopolies are bad...competition is great! - When Aloha Airlines went under in 2008, there was word prior to that if Hawaiian and Aloha was going to merge. Instead the monopoly happened to local air travel. - When Southwest decided to expand to Hawaii, there was a lot of pressure on Hawaiian to address their fares, as Southwest intentionally cut fares so low when they introduced themselves into the Hawaii market. - Hawaiian Air was still trying to expand themselves to be a more major player in the airline market, by taking on further domestic and international routes/destinations. This proved to be damaging as we entered the pandemic within the last three years, as those routes were being supported by a greatly reduced amount of travelers. - Hawaiian's stock was over $57 a share at the start of 2017, and plummeted to below $4 a share in October of this year. - Being $900 million in debt is a tremendously bad thing. And the administrative leaders of Hawaiian didn't do anything positive to stop the financial slide. - And by the time Southwest Airlines entered the Hawaii market, Hawaiians stock was already 1/2 of its strength, at below $50 a share. So Southwest didn't cause the slide, it just did two things. Seized the opportunity to come into a market that had a vulnerable carrier, and place the nail in Hawaiian's coffin. - People have to look at it this way, either Alaska buys Hawaiian, and they continue to operate under them as a parent company OR Hawaiian goes out of business (bankrupt) with a whimper. And then Alaska Airlines comes into the Hawaii market just as Alaska Airlines; NO legacy for Hawaiian Airlines.
Mahalo for the comment. I wonder how things would have played out if Aloha and Hawaiian had merged. Would things still have played out the way they did today?
I too am not a big fan of Hawaiian Airlines and an Aloha Airlines fan too, I miss the funbird livery and the aloha Aloha Airlines employees had, only if Alaska bought Aloha back then and kept Aloha alive.
5:25, I flew Alaska airlines for the 1st time in May of 2021 from Honolulu to San Francisco and the flight is good and what is good about Alaska airlines is "it's part of the 1 world alliance." Next year, Hawaiian airlines might join the 1 world alliance. I know it's not happening, but will see.
Nonsense, they put loads of their money in R&D projects. There’s always gaps in their hot season vs low season ranging their market cap. For Hawaiian air the turn over is always just around the corner 2 seasons a year.
I swore never to fly Hawaiian Airlines again. I live on the Big Island. I left my ipad Pro on the airplane and asked staff to get it for me. I waited at the airport four hours. Then I saw on Find My Device it leave the airplane, leave the airport, and arrive at an apartment in Honolulu. Only staff could have done this.
Alaska inflight service and aircraft is just as good or better thsn Hawaiian. I have flown both for over 30 years and have friends/ relatives that work for both.
I am dating myself, but I sure miss the days of the $350 book-of-ten coupons for Hawaiian Air. If I had a 2PM flight scheduled to fly from one island to another, and I happened to arrive at the airport 75 minutes early with only a carry on, the airline folks would just have me get on the 1PM flight. Nice. But, no more. 9/11 killed that program.
This wouldn't have happened if Dan Inouye was alive. But now that he's gone we have lower airfares. Alaska airlines has great service. Im glad that the merger is happening. I fly exclusively to HI
If the merger makes canceling or changing flights easier I am all for it. In 2024 it took over an hour on the phone with a wonderful lady in a foreign country. It was a frustrating experience!
@@HelloFromHawaii which? who? The banks only operate in Hawaii,, right? HECO? no. Dole pineapple was from Hawaii but they really went international and don't talk about Hawaii nor have a big presence in Hawaii. The guy who started Dole was the cousin of President Standford Dole the president of the Republic of Hawaii. When I was a kid on the mainland I used to see ads for C&H sugar on TV. Gone already.
there's so many things I dislike about hawaiianairlines. Back before southwest came in, and Island Air and GoMesa had gone under, and I was paying $80-100 each to HNL-KOA, I distinctly remember the CEO saying that this was the absolute lowest price they could possibly offer. Obviously complete bull$hit the first day southwest landed at HNL. And I absolutely hate flying SW, I haven't had an on-time flight since 2021, yet I keep flying them because f*** HA. Also their lounge at HNL is the biggest joke of a lounge I've ever seen. Hawaiianmiles also still charging 7500 points for a $39 flight, what's even the point?
Okay, so do you think a $39 fare is a profitable? I understand that as passengers, we want the lowest fare possible. As a business, which all airlines are, do you think it is a profitable price? At the end of the day, all airlines (Southwest & Hawaiian) are businesses which need to show a profit in order to continue to operate. Next, what is your expectation for the lounge? What types of amenities are you looking for? The same as an International carrier that most passengers paid much more than a First Class ticket on a Neighbor Island or North America flight? I think what we need to realize now is that there is a disconnect between what the passengers think they deserve and the amount it actually would take to provide that service. At the end of the day, every airline that services is a business. Businesses need to make money in order to continue serving. I don’t mean to come across as abrupt or rude, but I feel that sometimes as consumers we forget that part.
Thinking rationally about your statements, "Milking the Hawaiian name" comes to mind. What is it that they do that makes you feel that they are milking the Hawaiian name? HA is the largest local employer in Hawaii who supports cultural events, local events, sports, and our keiki through education advancement. You mentioned about how Southwest doesn't charge for surfboards and bags, but Hawaiian does. Southwest is a far larger company, backed by their vast U.S. mainland network. Southwest actually takes a loss in Hawaii by operating at $39 fares and giving out free baggage. If you look at the fares Southwest has on the U.S. mainland, routes similar in length to our inter-island flights, are much higher than $39, nearing $200 one way. The Southwest vs. Hawaiian argument is a classic example of big box vs. mom and pop. Southwest has the deeper pockets and able to cut fares substantially while taking a loss for the long haul. Whereas Hawaiian is unable to do so as they are locally based with a smaller fleet, routing, and revenue pool to pull from, combined with operating in a remote location. The challenging aspect to operating in Hawaii is always costs. Hawaiian is a business and they need to make decisions that make financial sense. IT and Customer Service are not cheap to keep in Hawaii. Hence, like most businesses, they outsource it. Granted most U.S. carriers keep their call centers in the U.S. but again this goes back to the issue of cost control. Balancing a need to expand the brand to find revenue generating routes, while scaling back in departments that can sustain themselves through outsourcing. Hawaiian finds itself in a position that Aloha Airlines did not. When it was all said and done, no carrier wanted to buy Aloha Airlines. They had failed to expand their routes out of Hawaii and by the time they did it was already too late. They had not updated their fleet, some of which were 30+ years old and costing more to operate they they were generating. The airline had run themselves thin and to the breaking point. Hawaiian on the other hand, has faced issues that Southwest and other carriers have not. Hawaiian faced the void generated by Aloha's departure. There was a need to fill the gap as the sole jet operator within the Hawaiian Islands. Fleet bolstering and increased routes helped to not only service the consumers, but also generate revenue to further expand. Why did Hawaiian increase their fares? Without Aloha to compete with them, Hawaiian had the blessing and burden of operating alone and needing to push their aircraft to more frequent and quick turnarounds, increasing maintenance and fuel costs. Rising fuel costs during the years after Aloha left also played into the fare increases. More recently, Southwest entered Hawaii with their undercut fares of $39. A price point where they were not making a profit. This is further bolstered by the fact that they don't charge for bags, an area where revenue can be generated in the airline business. Understandingly, Southwest captured some of Hawaiian's passengers, which is a part of competition. Then, the Covid Pandemic shut down all international travel. This is one area where Hawaiian makes a decent portion of their revenue and it came to a halt for 2 years. In that time, aircraft lease payments, maintenance costs, employee wages, etc. still need to be paid out. No revenue generated, but costs accumulated. Other domestic carriers could still rely on their vast domestic routings and place long haul planes into storage, but Hawaiian was not in a position to do that as it costs money to not only place planes into storage, but to bring them back into service afterwards. As post-pandemic booms began, manufacturing defects with Pratt and Whitney's engines took a toll on Hawaiian's A321 Neo fleet, which Hawaiian runs with only 1-2 spare aircraft. Rolling engine replacements took some aircraft out of service for up to 4 weeks each. Cancelations and reaccommodating plagued HA financials for the bulk of 2023. Lastly, the Lahaina fire in Maui, caused passenger numbers to drop. Kahului, Hawaiian's second busiest hub, saw dwindling numbers and some mainland flights held less than 1/4 of their capacity. Combining this with continued competition from Southwest and the larger legacy carriers, rising operational costs, and low international traffic, and we can see the path Hawaiian has had to take in the past 5+ years. I didn't make this comment to be biased. What I would like people to realize is just how challenging operating an airline based in Hawaii is and how Hawaiian has faced many challenges over the years, where some of its competition did not. Mahalo :)
The takeover had to happen. Without it, Hawaiian would most likely have had to file for bankruptcy with $900 million in debt. The merger cancels the debt. HOWEVER, not quite sold on the Alaska CEO. He seemed to say all the right things but you know, once the ink dries on the new contract, he becomes the sole CEO and at that point, I would think everything is on the table for change. It would be wise to keep all the Hawaiian employees with their preset knowledge, but it really depends on how much they will cost salary-wise. If they are making much more than Alaska employees doing the same job, CEO will either have to reduce their salaries or raise Alaska employees' salaries to meet Hawaiian's. I'll give you one guess as to what he'd prefer to do. I also agree with you that ALOHA was the peoples' airline. The fact that you mentioned not caring for Hawaiian is the same reaction I get when I say I don't care for Zippy's. People often raise their eyebrows and go, "WHAT???" I'll fly Hawaiian to go interisland because I don't like the open seating at Southwest, and to the mainland, but flying to Asia, I will always opt for JAL, even if I have to pay a little more (which is not always the case nowadays). You absolutely cannot beat JAL service. It's something Hawaiian is starting to neglect. That, and being "on time."
Mahalo for sharing. We'll see how the transition goes between the two companies. As an aside, even as a Zippy's Brand Ambassador, I understand not caring for them. Every person has preferences and those should be respected. Still, hard to beat the convenience and consistency when you want to eat local food.
@@HelloFromHawaii Thanks! And yes, I know you are a Zippy's ambassador but, as you say, everyone has their preferences. But as far as convenience is concerned, there is L&L where it is much cheaper and massive portions, two things Zippy's is neglecting. When I get L&L chicken katsu, for example, that thing is so full of katsu that the cover can barely close. I can even share it or save leftovers for the next day.
Don't be too impressed with Alaska CEO and how he spoke. Taking on a new airline when he can't even solve all of the major issues with his current airline, is going to be a huge problem. Alaska is one of the worst airlines and consistently is one of the lowest rated. We had massive issue with them a few months ago with plane being delayed on the runway, we taxied back to gate - sat for an hour and a half in the plane - finally took off. We had a connecting flight we were going to miss - they promised on the plane that there was a team of agents waiting to take care of everyone. We got off the plane and no one was there - we had to run about a mile to the service desk where there was one person to take care of a flight full of people. This is only one story - I hear this type of thing from everyone that flies Alaska. I have never had any issues with Hawaiian. I just hope that Hawaiian doesn't inherit the issues Alaska has.
@@barbie19604 We live in Portland and use them all them time as well - never had a great experience and no one I know has. But could be you have been lucky and we haven't - never know - everyone has different experiences I guess!
You don’t hear this from everyone who flys Alaska. I can sit here and say the same thing about Hawaiian Airlines. If you had a bad experience, okay. The issues with the merger will not be with be one of the consistently highest rated airlines.
Of course JAL is better, its a Japanese Airline 😂 However, when it comes to traveling from Hawai'i to the continental US, id rather fly Hawaiian. No other airlines gonna give me POG!
The Hawaiian app and website suck! Alaska management is going to clean all this up and really improve Hawaiian and make the brand competitive and sustainable. Alaska management has proven they know how to compete with Southwest and Delta, much larger carriers that tried unsuccessfully to eat Alaska’s lunch.
Alaska Airlines is so much more expensive (LAX-> KOA $400 at Alaska vs $200 at Hawaiian) and the flights are so much longer (5 hrs from LAX->KOA with Hawaiian vs 10+ hrs from LAX->SEATTLE-> KOA) I don't look forward to this. Hopefully Alaska will keep the same costs and flight routes) I don't care that much about service, I care more about price & hours. When I have to use Alaska, they are quite rude. I experience quite good service at Hawaiian (except their food, which I think we know is gross 😂) Hopefully Alaska improves & listen to customer feedback.
What do you think about the proposed acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines? (thank you for the comments that pointed out that this is an acquisition, not a merger, per se.)
Due to the politicians and cops Hawaiian airlines doing this, they let 1 person go from that airline that has been with them for even a minute prior to this , I will not go to Hawaii anymore.
I really think that the CEO and the board members and shareholders should have done something with getting the people of Hawai’i and tourists from the mainland involved with their decisions and business. In my opinion they should have asked the Governor of Hawai’i to assist them in whatever means possible. I always flew Aloha Airlines because it was the name that the business owners had to keep their own character and presence with the island folks. I personally don’t fly to Hawai’i every year but when I do I fly with Hawaiian Airlines. The last time I was back home was for my mother’s passing and services in 2016. I have flown almost every major airlines in the United States and overseas to Japan, South Korea and Australia. Again, in the future the Hawaiian airlines will just be history like Aloha Airlines. Chris I was just as surprised as you and everyone else. But in my experience of flying I’ve seen the best disappear. Just to name a few Pan American, Continental, Braniff, Northwest. All these airlines in my day was the best. Especially Pan American and Northwest. Now I’m really curious about how they will manage the inter island flights?? Anyway, I did fly on JAL, and Alaska eons ago. Take Care of yourself and your family and Mele Kalikimaka Meka Hauoli Makahikihou.
It's not a merger hawaiian airline is getting bought out. I think the miles are getting combined between Alaska and hawaiian can be used for both and one world alliance member airline
I hope they keep and hire Hawaiian people!
I flew from the mainland on Hawaiian airline a few times, and island hopped many more times. Always made me feel my vacation started the minute I got on the plane. It’s gonna be sad if they change the aloha spirit.
Exactly. I got HAL, SWA, and Alaska flying from my home airport to HNL and I'll always pick HAL because the second I step on the plane w/ Pualani on the tail, I'm in Hawaiʻi.
Brah. Like usual, you're right on the mark!
I totally agree with your assessment.
As as soon as I heard the announcement, I was excited for the future of commercial aviation in Hawaii.
As a former Washington State resident, now living on Oahu for almost a dozen years, I have fond memories of my Alaska Airline experiences.
As you pointed out, Alaska's customer-service sence and business acumen can't help but give a boost to Hawaiian.
Also as a likely takeover candidate, having Alaska be the buyer is a far superior notion than them being bought out by one of the other major carriers!
Yeah, looking forward to what's ahead. 🤙
I feel like customer experience and customer expectation are one and the same. When people say that I didn’t enjoy my flight or my experience didn’t meet my expectation, that is something that you set individually.
Your example of thinking that Hawaiian Airlines controls how the TSA lines are setup or even has a say in how the airport is run is untrue. As someone has commented earlier, all Hawaii Airports fall under the jurisdiction of State of Hawaii DOT.
Regarding TSA clearance, passengers do not only have to utilize the TSA checkpoints in Terminal 1 when flying on Hawaiian. Those checkpoints are the closest to the Hawaiian Airlines gates, but any TSA checkpoint can be used to enter the airport.
For your International return. Since Hawaiian Airlines only operates one flight daily, the ticket counters only open for that flight. The counters are not staffed like other airlines. The ticket counter will open usually 2-3 hours prior to check-in. Normally this information is available to passengers either on their itinerary or somewhere near the counters.
I agree though, JAL & ANA are amazing at what they do. Almost any Japanese Airline is amazing. It is in their culture. So, flying in and out of Japan, it is always a safe bet to fly with a Japan Based airline.
I feel that your comparison is an unfair comparison. When you compare JAL to Hawaiians JAL will always win. A fairer comparison would be Hawaiian to United or Delta flying into Japan. I am not saying that you are wrong but I feel that your comparison is unfair.
I do agree that the loss of Aloha Airlines was a sad moment for Hawaii but to say that Hawaiian Airlines felt that they had nothing to worry about is farther from the truth. Trying to give the passengers the fares they wanted, to balance that against rising fuel prices and increasing costs, is a fine line. Again, passenger expectations are also changing. Many passengers expect a First Class experience for a Main Cabin price. As someone who is in the industry and is affected by this acquisition, I can say that we have been trying. Trying to keep the fares lower so that families can travel but then offering more onboard the aircraft without increasing cost is next to impossible but if you don’t, then you’re not meeting their expectations.
As far as your comment on culture, I think you’re confusing what you think is culture with what is your service expectation. The culture of an airline resides in this employees. To say that Hawaiian’s culture needs some help is to say that its employees need help to meet “your” expectations. That would be an unfair statement.
Mahalo for the comment. Appreciate the feedback. To comment on what you stated about culture, I'm moreso talking about a culture of striving for improved customer service. To me, that culture is set by leadership and managers.
Not totally true. While Alaska indeed doesn’t run TSA, they have spent a LOT of money working with airports to remodel and rearrange lobbies and security screening areas to make them better.
We’ve had many good flights on Hawaiian over 33 years with destinations like Boston, Phoenix and Portland. Recently we needed to get to Wyoming so Alaska Airlines provided the route. It was a really good experience as well. Hopefully the airlines won’t hold us captive with rates already higher than current rates. I hope the best outcome for the employees. The employees make or break the experience. ✈️🤞🏻✈️🤞🏻🌸🌺
Glad to hear you had good experiences with both airlines. 🤙
Interesting thoughts. Compared to some larger airlines, Hawaiian has been a breath of pleasant fresh air for us, traveling from the east coast. Hope that continues.
Great to hear. I haven't done that direct flight to the east cost. Boston?
@@HelloFromHawaii Philadelphia.
Yes, once Aloha was dissolved, Hawaiian Air became the monopoly. Even after Southwest came and setup business here, Hawaiian still had majority of the business, especially with the mainland flights. The setup with Southwest Airlines inter-island flights were somewhat weird. They were cheaper and bags were free, but not having assigned seat was a deal breaker for me. I'm glad Alaska aquired Hawaiian, maybe now the service will be much better.
I haven't flown on Southwest, but might one day. With a family, it's must easier with assigned seating.
for an inter island flight without a seat assignment it's no big deal. But flying to the mainland most definitely a big problem. Esp with no power outlets. @@HelloFromHawaii
@@silversurferhi In-seat power is already available on several of their aircraft and is being retrofitted to their fleet
Here is my opinion on the topic that differs with your viewpoint on the topic.
1) I initially believe that the merger should be blocked by the DOJ because there will be 100% issues on the keeping of the two brands which might not work in the current setup of the aviation industry. Certificate of Aviation is issued to only one holding company brand so unless I’m mistaken the FEDs would need to create a new rule to allow 2 COA’s being held for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, but prior mergers it has to be put under 1 COA. There is a false hope of keeping 2 brands alive and it will eventually be swallowed up by Alaska Airlines. They mentioned that only 12% of the routes overlap but another pilot from another airline said it’s actually 25% of west coast routes so more research needs to be done and that is a dramatic swing in numbers.
2) Hawaiian miles and Pualani status is very important because there are a lot of customers in Hawaii, especially the elderly who has Platinum status (most likely flying to Vegas or Japan a lot lol) will get demoted because on Alaska Air website the Platinum is actually equal to Gold on their system and Pualani Gold is silver on their system. The issue of keeping the miles is important because if they are to argue the case that their access to the OneWorld Alliance is good, then you will need the mileage to be able to purchase the perks on the other airlines on OneWorld. Plus Hawaiian has had the most consumer friendly access to gaining status tier because Platinum is 60 segments or 40,000 miles. Whereas many of the other carriers that will only get Silver tier really which isn’t much of a benefit when you research what Silver is on other airlines. Also a lot of other airlines are going away from mileage accumulation to where they base it on how much you pay for the ticket and what class of ticket it is so you have to spend a ton of money to even get into the basic tiers. That is what a lot of consumers here in Hawaii are concerned because we are manini compared to other flyers and will get demoted severely down the ranks.
3) Also your statement about HA was a horrible experience is skewed and bias because there are factors of how the airport systems in USA and especially with Honolulu is operated. If you look really carefully airports are usually operated a Transit Authority or some type of incorporation but HNL is actually controlled by the State DOT which is a crap show in itself when you realize it took over 30 years to build the H3 and just look how long its taking Rail and it’s not even going to Ala Moana. One of the most red tape corrupted dept in Hawaii. To also seperate TSA the airlines actually have to help fund TSA for more lanes from what I remember plus all the TSA’s in HNL no matter Terminal 1 or 2, they handle both Domestic and International passengers unlike in Japan where they have separate terminals for Domestic and International. Also HA competes on the value proposition to compete on International routes and is almost a mix of Low Cost Carrier service and Regular Carrier services.
4) JAL is actually the Joint Venture Partner with Hawaiian so they handle their operations in Japan. The reason why you couldn’t check into HA in Narita while everyone else is opened is because the kiosks they are assigned to have to share with other carriers usually and they need HA employee with the JAL employees to help with check in and for the USA way of operations it’s 3 hours prior to departure is the earliest you can check in, vs in Japan you can check in when the airport kiosks opens even if you are the last flight of the day at Narita. I flew out of Fukuoka and there was a very long line also but because I was Platinum even though I was in economy, I could walk into the Business class line to check in which cut right through line.
5) When looking at the financials and the challenges that HA is facing, Alaska would be a good pairing because Alaska doesn’t have any international routes into Asia and to grow bigger the quickest without taking many years acquiring SLOTs at various airports and hiring and training and buying planes, it’s through a merger. Also HA being under valued is open hunting season with bigger airlines and actually one airline i could see trying to buy would be Delta since they have lost their good access routes to Japan after giving up their Narita Hub/Kitchen and relying on Korean Airlines on SkyTeam Alliance to then use Incheon as their hub for Asian flights, and doing a hostile takeover of HA would give them the slots of Japan back.
6) Another scary thing is Alaska buying out Virgin America and that was a crap show too so they don’t have a good record on buy outs.
Appreciate the comment and insight. There's a lot to respond to, but hard to do through comments. Again, thanks for taking the time to write out what you did. 🤙
It’ll be really sad when they have to declare bankruptcy if the merger doesn’t go through though :(
As a company, do you think that Hawaiian would be able survive and rebound financially? Everyone agrees that Hawaiian Airlines stock is greatly undervalued but without some kind of financial infusion, I feel that Hawaiian Airlines could go the way of Aloha Airlines.
With its rich 94 year history, no one from Hawaii wants to see it fail. If one were to step back, is what Alaska trying to do the worse thing that could be happening right now? If not Alaska, then who? American, United, Delta & Southwest. The big four, who control 80% of the market.
I agree that Elite Status with any airline is a highly valued commodity and should not be lost but is that truly the largest concern on the table? Many of the concerns that many people bring up are consumer centric. This merger is financial centric. With 0.9 billion dollars of debt weighing Hawaiian Airlines down, an aging Neighbor island fleet, ever increasing competition from carriers intent of pushing Hawaiian Airlines out, sadly they have their cards stacked against them. This acquisition seems like to most secure way to keep our homegrown airline alive. Yes, what Alaska is proposing has never been done before. Does that mean that they cannot attempt to do it? I feel that although this acquisition is not the perfect way to do this, it is currently the best thing of the table.
@@skinnybricks definitely will be bad if bankruptcy is the only option
@@HALLover808 it is a good business choice for Alaska to buy out Hawaiian. Just don’t have confidence in how they handled how the Virgin America buy out went. Did service and other things improve for the consumer when Alaska bought them out? Was it good for the consumer to let aloha go bankrupt and not get the bankruptcy protection and bail out? Prices went high after aloha folded so hopefully with some case study from the party then the government can be more demanding on the terms of the buy out if they let it go through.
I've had awesome service and fair pricing with Alaska... They get to combine thier fleets and routes.
I'm surprised at your experience with Hawn to Japan sure was a bummer, but concerning the merger with Alaskan Air my first thought was back to .Aloha , I heard of fammilies with both spouses losing their jobs & homes, & always the buyer will say "don't worry everything remains the stay but 6 months down the road people will be laid off, "we have too much redundancy so some must go " employees of both companies are now subject to be cut. I have seen it happen too many times sad but true Good Luck to all those involved ❤
We'll see how it goes and how the employees are managed. Hoping that most can keep their jobs.
Being from Seattle, I always noticed that flights with Hawaiian were much lower. The catch was you had to fly through Honolulu (at least from Seattle) instead of a non-stop from an Alaska hub...so your concerns about prices rises are valid.
As long as SouthWest is in the marketplace; things will be fine $$ wise. Not really fair to compare Japan Air to any USA based airlines since the country of Japan is subsidizing JAL.
🤙
Not just JAL, customer service is A+ for every business in Japan.
I don't think Japan subsidizes Japanese airlines any more than the US government subsidizes US airlines.
Southwest comes in for a few years with low fares to build their customer base and then brings prices up to the same or even higher than its competitors. But they that short term low fare builds the brand as low cost. They’re really aren’t.
I flew Hawaiin airline back in the day when internet over the Pacific Ocean wasn't an option. I LOVED them. But over the years, Delta, and Alaska have provided none interrupted internet services to people, and that's when I gave up on Hawaiin. None of their flights have wifi when flying to the mainland. I just dont' think it's acceptable any longer.. I still fly them on all inter island flights though. I really think this is one of the best merger/ acquisition in a long time. I hope this can happen!
United Airline had a local Hawai'i crew from Thailand to Japan to Honolulu International (back then). Excellent experience.
Confusing statements. In the title and the description, the words buy out are used. But then in the pinned comment, it says merger.
Merger implicates that they are about equal value and they are coming together. The term buyout is very appropriate because AK is paying 4X the stock value for HI meaning they have the big bags of capital to do it. Realistically HI knew they couldn't get around this because they either went voluntarily or it would have been hostile.
Now in regards to keeping both brands...there's no way for them to do it adequately. For the old timers, there was Longs and then CVS took over and while the name stayed the same, the look, the feel, the treatments were all different. Doing the same job, but all the rules in the background had changed. This is what's coming between AK and HI.
Mahalo for the comment. "Acquisition" is probably the correct word.
@@HelloFromHawaii acquisition is the better word. Under the paint, graphics, and uniforms there will only be one airline. Alaska.
People like to compare the Virgin American acquisition but the two are completely different. VX leased everything. The name was leased from Branson, all the planes were leased… to keep the virgin name they would have had to continue paying royalties forever which didn’t make sense. With Hawaiian the brand is part of the deal.
It shouldn’t be that difficult to keep the aircraft painted with the HA brand (although I’m sure they will be updated and a “Hawaiian By Alaska Airlines”,) separate website (same backend,) different uniforms (depending on the flights you work.)
Overall it’s going to be a great thing!🎉
I flew Virgin America for years, then they were merged/bought by Alaska. They honored the frequent flyer status for almost 2 years. Alaska is a good airline. For the Islands, it sounded like the combined airline will be managed from Seattle. That may affect jobs.
I don’t think you understand that the TSA security lines at the HNL airport are not controlled by Hawaiian Airlines. You can enter the HNL airport from ANY TSA security line from any terminal as long as you have a valid boarding pass departing on that day. Thankfully, the State of Hawaii has finished construction on new security screening areas in Terminal 1, so those long lines are a thing of the past.
thank you Chris for the thoughtful analysis! Hey, if you were going to get a credit card with mileage, would you go southwest, or alaskawian?
Good question. I probably wouldn't get a credit card with mileage since the miles don't mean much to me, though. I'd rather get the cash back.
I fly Alaska 5 or 6 trips a year. Other than during covid I have never had a bad experience. I used to fly Hawaiian but I had too many issues. Like if you live on the Big Island no direct flights to Washington. Gotta go Hnl. They are militant on carry-on size and weight. I have never had my carry-on weighed by Alaska. Oh....not merger it is an acquisition. Great video. One final comment....Alaska has one of the most generous mileage plans. I use mine to buy tickets for my kids to visit in Kona.
Mahalo for sharing. And yes, acquisition.
Miles gets free upgrades and the short line through TSA also partner lounges
As a local who got to experience both Aloha and Hawaiian, you are 100% right on 🤙imo
I always thought Hawaiian Air had something unique to it, but I recently flew with United and was surprised that they had local staff, spoke Hawaiian phrases. They had more flexible flight schedules and the United terminal is directly across the street from the rental car building. I still prefer flying Hawaiian when visiting but I am more open to shopping around when needed.
I used to fly United sometimes in college. They had a direct flight to Denver, which was great.
Alaska inflight service and aircraft is just as good or better thsn Hawaiian. I have flown both for over 30 years and have friends/ relatives that work for both.
United has a Honolulu flight attendant base and they work quite a few flights.
Great video. In regards to your experience with the TSA line going to Japan, is that Hawaiian's miss or Honolulu Airport or TSA's? I agree with the JAL experience and the level of service you receive with most Asia based carriers. Their level of service is a couple levels above US carriers. A better comparison might be between a domestic Hawaiian Air flight vs. another domestic carrier's service. Or an international flight with US based carriers.(Hawaiian vs. Delta, Hawaiian vs. American etc.) Thanks.
Maybe both Hawaiian and the Honolulu Airport. But I just didn't understand why we're all going through one line. I think Hawaiian split off their international flights so it's better now. Wish they would have done that years ago.
Thanks for the video. I have to agree with you about the customer service at Hawaiian. Wait 30 to 45 minutes for checked luggage. Customer service lines are ridiculously long. Hawaiian is way behind other airlines in their app and website. Cannot cancel or change flights online forcing you to call their customer service which is composed of agents in another country (definitely not locals). The agents are nice enough but they often don't know what they are doing and put you on hold for long periods of time to ask someone else.
Hoping to see how things change in customer service.
Just spent most of my Hawaiian miles for a trip to the Cook Islands in January. Rumor going around right now is that the DOJ is going to block the acquisition. Not really charging to my Hawaiian credit card till the official news comes out, and if it is blocked I'm most likely going to cancel it and go find another airline card.
Thank you for sharing.😊😊 Alaska Airlines does not have wide body aircraft in their small aircraft fleet! I hope they just combined to each other not changing names.
I don’t fly Hawaiian air much but the times I did, I had good experiences. If the purchase goes through, my assumption is Hawaiian airlines miles will convert to Alaska airline miles. When that happens, those who hoarded Hawaiian airline miles should be smiling big because Alaska airline miles are known to have lowest redemption rate when getting award tickets on other One World airline partners. But finding those redemption opportunities these days is another matter! Btw, JAL isn’t the only Asian airlines with great customer service, try ANA, EVA, China Airlines (Taiwan based), Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines. These airlines are known to have great inflight customer service that would put any American based airlines to shame.
If this goes through, I would like to see more inter island connectivity, like operations from West Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, maybe bring back Ohana? And ad more services and destinations like Denver
Denver would be great. Used to fly direct all the time
What do u do during a tsunami (tidal wave
Wait. You fly once every 3 years? With all those opinions based on infrequent travel.
I've been flying at least once a year for a while. Much more during my college years. I didn't fly this year, but we are planning a trip for next year.
As a 50 year Alaskan resident; get over it. I also lived in Hawaii a few years and I don't think when Aloha Airlines went away it didn't generate the same fuss. As you mentioned, AK Airlines is HQd in Seattle. AK Airlines began as a small regional air charter service in SE AK in the 1930s (float planes) and has morphed over the years to what it's becom today. Generally, AK Airlines (in AK) provides pretty good service. It's been better, and worse like everything else. AK Airlines also sub -contracts flights in AK to the smaller and oftentimes VERY remote parts of our state. They have a handle on customers, fares, expectations, service and "mileage". Trust me your "outer islands" in Hawaii don't compare to our Dutch Harbor or the outer Aleutian's or Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It'll work out fine. A good chunk of the air crews and flight staff don't even live in AK which I suspect hold true to a lesser degree in Hawaii. Perhaps not.
Such an excellent topic. I’ve never thought about the Hawaiian miles. Maybe for those that travel a lot or use the Hawaiian miles on a credit card. Then it might work out for those who use the miles for family trips. I’ll have to say that Hawaiian airlines was too strict on baggage fees which discouraged some from using Hawaiian airlines. But I agree the brand of Hawaiian Airlines was not my favorite. I totally miss Aloha Airlines. And I find that Hawaiian airlines monopolized and did nit do well with discounts for locals. And south west does a better job and no luggage fees. And the customer service is better on south west in my opinion. Maybe Alaska airlines can teach Hawaiian airlines can improve their experience and their fees. They charge for everything. Which is horrible. The terminal is better now. But I don’t use Hawaiian when traveling to visit family. Hopefully there are more positive experience with this merger. Aloha from the Big Island.
Mahalo for sharing. I haven't seen the improvements of the new terminal yet. Just glad we now have wifi.
When the two milage plans merge the Hawaiian people will be the disadvantaged ones. Alaska is not going to reduce the miles. For a long time it was thought that United would buy Hawaiian. Your analysis of Jal vs HA is spot on. If you are not a Pualani elite you will have to wait in their long lines. Of course almost all non-US Asian airlines are better than a US airline.
It will be interesting to see how the miles programs will work now. Will X amount of Hawaiian Miles equal Y amount of Alaska Miles?
Alaska Airlines will do to Hawaiian Airlines what it did to Virgin America. Then they will replace all the pretty flight attendants with Alaska's hag division.
lol..
Totally agree with you on Hawaiian brand. Not a fan. The customer experience sucks. The flight crew are fine, but my goodness, customer service is not up to par. I’ll pay more and fly another airline, and I have. Much more reliable and less stress doing so.
TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!!! JAL is the best!
Hawaii will be a second major hub for Alaska so I foresee major improvements to both the terminal and all the Hawaiian lounges. 🥳🎉🤩
If CVS dropped the Longs Drug name when they took over, I'm certain they would've lost a lot of customers too. If Pualani were to disappear from the tail fin, it would be a sad day for the parent company and we in Hawaii.
I was loyal to Aloha Airlines back in the day and lost all my miles when they went down. Luv the 737.
I've never flown Hawaiian to the mainland but will do so for the first-time next month. Flew mostly Omni when they were active with Vacations Hawaii. Delta and United are my preferred airlines now, depending on destination.
Hopefully you enjoy the mainland flight. I've flown a lot of different airlines back and forth over the years. Nothing like those seats and local crew, though, to remind you of home. 🤙
Either you love Hawaiian or you don’t. You obviously don’t but you are trying to be fair on your assessment of the buy out. When Aloha went out of business, Hawaiian hired many of their employees. Many! They were good employees but no better or worse than Hawaiian Airlines. I once applied for a flight attendant position at Aloha. When an applicant left the interview room, I could hear the interviewers laughing and talking about the applicant. Not a class act! Hawaiian was the opposite. A class act. From their advertising to their corporate culture; always a class act. No bad mouthing the competition. No making fun of the completion. Yes, Hawaiian has made many mistakes and was never on time but they have improved their service and have managed to survive in a such a volatile field. They are one of Hawaiis largest employers. Aloha, Hawaii’s Airline? Perhaps one of them but not the one that my family flew often.
I’ve never been much of a fan of Hawaiian airlines. They have an old worn out fleet and poorly trained cabin crews.
The buy out proposal may turn out to be a good thing but you’ve got to wonder about the impact on fares?
What we really need is high speed ferries between the islands. It would be so much more convenient, especially compared to flights in or out of HNL.
I believe there is a proposal for those seagliders in the future. Might be something worth looking into if they are ever established here.
Concur. HA to Japan can’t compare to JL. Biz class seats (except for 2-2-2 HA vs 1-2-1 JAL) comparable. Service also. The big difference was in Economy. JL standard economy comparable to HA extra comfort in leg space without the added cost. I think JL rated as best economy industry wide. The food in JL economy was much better too. The loco moco on HA TYO-HNL was pretty bad.
HA to CONUS on the best in wide body aircraft compared to US airline competitors (except Delta). My $0.02. I hope for improvement too.
I have 120k Hawaiian Miles. Good thing I switched to American Express so I can get points for something else. Will have to visit Hawaii next year!
6:06, Why? I like Hawaiian airlines and I like to fly on trans pacific.
I hope Hawaiian doesn't convert to the long layovers like Alaska with less scheduled connecting flights. Enjoyed the companion benefit on Alaska. Alaska flys into Tri Cities Washington 👍🏼. I used Hawaiian on parts of my multi flight travel last year. I had a great trip!
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After 17 years working at Las Vegas airport it was bittersweet hearing the news. Hopefully the "Hawaiian" brand and Aloha Spirit will stay intact. Although, bottom line Alaska provides way way way better service than Hawaiian recent years. Another thing, the only thing Hawaiian/Local about Hawaiian Air is the employees. The company is as haole as can be.
Wow! That's a nostalgic UH baseball cap you're wearing!
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I travel from Kauai to Oahu once a month and the Hawaiian Island miles are helpful -I rarely pay more than the tax. There is also nostalgia living on Kauai through hurricanes,pandemic,and always seeing the Hawaiian Airlines plane arrive on Kauai through severe weather conditions. I travel to Italy yearly and Alitalia failed but ITA replaced them and they are more progressive-feel like Hawaiian is a little fake I agree that the CEO of Alaska is well spoken and a leader -
Mahalo for sharing. Great that you don't pay too much for the trip. Work-related to Oahu?
I flew on Aloha Airlines 737-700 to Hawaii back to Arizona on a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767 way back in 2007. 😊
I just hope I don't lose my miles. I remember my brother lost out miles when Aloha closed.
It's a merger that makes sense. They have similar corporate cultures, and more importantly, complimentary routes. Alaska is more domestic, whereas Hawaiian has flights to Asia and Polynesia. There will be a storming phase where the operations merge, but once everyone grooves right the new airline will perform to our expectations. Hawaiian also had no choice; oil prices, low demand, competition, and the attitude towards tourism was killing the airline. Its death was a matter of when, not if.
Has anyone tried the economy seats in H-Airline recently? It is so tight, my kid can barely sit. It was a surprise after the pandemic. Since then I have to book premium economy or other airlines. When an organization cuts down services while their competitors do not, you know that organization is in trouble. Hope their service gets better. Why didn't they serve mini-Zippy's or something (for $)? You were right. When there was not much of competition, you have no motivation to innovate and to improve.
My advice is buy Hawaiian stock on Dec. 1st and sell Dec. 4th 🎇 But anyway, Hawaiian won't change much, just being acquired by the bigger carrier Alaska based in Seattle. Yes, better to be Hawaii based, but it's not going to be like Continental disappearing into United. 11:30 Get pre-check and/or Global Entry and skip the line.
Forgot about Continental
There is a comment posted noting neither airlines competed for routes. Therefore, prices should remain stable and the positive flight experience might increase. This should help keep discount airlines like Southwest or Spirit Air from making a bully move to grab Hawai'i flight routes.
I liked Aloha as well and flew them when I went to to Maui. It is Hello Alaska like Virgin America.
Hawaii as an island is done. I visited it earlier this year and about 20 years ago, I handled Hawaii as a part of my job responsibility. I was shocked how bad Honolulu looked compared to 20 years ago. The Hawaii brand is a global brand but Alaska is not. If the CEO is smart, they will use Hawaii to expand to Asia and become an international airline.
What parts of Honolulu were bad?
@@HelloFromHawaii All over... I also went downtown and was surprised how bad it was. Especially around the Walmart area.
I love ANA and JAL more than US airlines. Their leg room space is so generous for economy fares compared to HAL and other US airlines. As far as Hawaiian, I like that their staff is from Hawaii so they have the Hawaiian culture instilled in them. What I don’t like is that airlines now have basic economy with no seat selection and main cabin with seat selection but at a higher price. Then to make matters worse, you have to pay more for certain seats in the economy section that are just “more popular .” Anything to squeeze more money out of us.
I flew Alaska Airlines a lot when my son what going to college in Washington State. Service was good and fares were reasonable. But I think when Covid hit our economy and the President decided to shut down fracking, it became a double whammy which resulted in much higher prices all around.
Hawaiian miles seem really cheap to me, which is why people probably love them. You can hop for about 6800 miles round trip, which is pretty cheap.
I have no idea how Hawaiian Miles work and what the conversion rate is or how you use them. lol
My favorite scene from "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" was where Steve is yelling at Bill for copying the look and feel of the graphical user interface from the Mac, then Bill reminded Steve that he basically stole the idea from Xerox.
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Nice video...mahalo...Wish we would have taken this type of "fresh" prospective when Next Era wanted to buy HECO...instead it was "we don't need The Mainland to take us over, we got this". Well you've seen the results of that one! Hawaiian was / is in a bit of financial trouble so either way they need the help. probably better Alaska than bankruptcy protection,
I've got a friend who flies on Alaskan all the time (to/from Alaska, it's his home state) and I've never heard the slightest complaint. This is funny to me because I've already decided I'm going to fly on Alaska back home there to Hawaii next year.
That's good to know. No complaints is a great sign.
Having moved away the year before Hawaiian Airlines lost half the roof in flight in 83, I'm surprised they've survived this long. Figure the settlements alone would have wiped them out.
I bought HA stock under 14 for the $18 payout in 12-18 months.
I will get my miles in cash
I almost got accepted for an interview as a FA then Aloha Airlines stopped flying around end of March 2008 so Hawaiian took most of the FA's right away which sucked for me and other potential candidates.
You can thank the state of Hawaii for driving another business out of the state. Hawaiian is one of the largest employers in the state. The job loss will be massive. Voting has consequences….
The state is actively trying to destroy your one industry too, tourism. They keep raising the accomodation tax without offering anything else in return. If I want a tropical paradise, I can go to Tahiti or Fiji, both of which are significantly cheaper than Hawaii. You're digging your own grave, but unfortunately most of the locals are too blind and keep voting the same idiots into power.
I'm disappointed the culture of service and fun that Virgin America had as a carrier didn't really seem to rub off on Alaska in that merger. I miss all those flights I had on Virgin
I hear what you’re saying about the customer service experience. I’ve read people complaining, but my experience was always flying first class so my opinion is probably a little skewed.
First class? Must be nice :)
@@HelloFromHawaii I hope that didn’t sound arrogant! It’s definitely expensive, but going to Hawaii is usually about a 16-20 hour travel day for us so I always like to get lie flat so we aren’t completely exhausted when we get there. I purchase everything for my business on a card and use the miles, it usually works out well. Inflation has definitely kept us from coming as frequently as we’d like to though!
I preferred Aloha Airlines over Hawaiian as well.
My wife uses her miles quite often and doesnt really pay for a lot of trips because of them so theyre not that bad.
I agree with you…Aloha Airlines was better! At least we have Southwest
Comparing Hawaiian Air to JAL is a no brainer(JAL is on another level vs Hawaiian or any other airline for that matter United/Delta/SW/etc). Yes, Hawaiian Air has many things it could improve on, but don't all the other US airlines have problems too?. The thing with Hawaiian Air is that Hawaii is a very loyal culture(ohana), that's why they always shop at Longs or stay at the California Hotel(in Vegas). Just the feeling of flying in a plane with mostly Hawaii people(vs another airline full of mainland people) or staying at a hotel in Vegas with mostly Hawaii people is very comforting. My biggest concern with this merger is what will happen to the benefits from my Bank of Hawaii, Hawaiian Air credit card?.
Agree that locals are very loyal to certain brands. Still interesting that we have Longs. I get it, but we all have CVS cards.
I when I saw the merger...again, not too thrilled. I was a Virgin Anericca Elevate program member. The staff was a more upbeat and fun to chat with. They had newer aircraft. Once Alaska assimilated all of Virgin America, I lost my miles. Hope this does not happen to Hawaiian.
Monopolies are bad...competition is great!
- When Aloha Airlines went under in 2008, there was word prior to that if Hawaiian and Aloha was going to merge. Instead the monopoly happened to local air travel.
- When Southwest decided to expand to Hawaii, there was a lot of pressure on Hawaiian to address their fares, as Southwest intentionally cut fares so low when they introduced themselves into the Hawaii market.
- Hawaiian Air was still trying to expand themselves to be a more major player in the airline market, by taking on further domestic and international routes/destinations. This proved to be damaging as we entered the pandemic within the last three years, as those routes were being supported by a greatly reduced amount of travelers.
- Hawaiian's stock was over $57 a share at the start of 2017, and plummeted to below $4 a share in October of this year.
- Being $900 million in debt is a tremendously bad thing. And the administrative leaders of Hawaiian didn't do anything positive to stop the financial slide.
- And by the time Southwest Airlines entered the Hawaii market, Hawaiians stock was already 1/2 of its strength, at below $50 a share. So Southwest didn't cause the slide, it just did two things. Seized the opportunity to come into a market that had a vulnerable carrier, and place the nail in Hawaiian's coffin.
- People have to look at it this way, either Alaska buys Hawaiian, and they continue to operate under them as a parent company OR Hawaiian goes out of business (bankrupt) with a whimper. And then Alaska Airlines comes into the Hawaii market just as Alaska Airlines; NO legacy for Hawaiian Airlines.
Mahalo for the comment. I wonder how things would have played out if Aloha and Hawaiian had merged. Would things still have played out the way they did today?
38 YEAR EMPLOYEE When the board of directors moved from Hawaii to New York . Hawaiian Airlines lost its real roots .
I too am not a big fan of Hawaiian Airlines and an Aloha Airlines fan too, I miss the funbird livery and the aloha Aloha Airlines employees had, only if Alaska bought Aloha back then and kept Aloha alive.
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5:25, I flew Alaska airlines for the 1st time in May of 2021 from Honolulu to San Francisco and the flight is good and what is good about Alaska airlines is "it's part of the 1 world alliance." Next year, Hawaiian airlines might join the 1 world alliance. I know it's not happening, but will see.
The combined company with be Alaska Airlines and since Alaska is already part of OneWorld all the “Hawaiian” flights will be as well.
Nonsense, they put loads of their money in R&D projects. There’s always gaps in their hot season vs low season ranging their market cap. For Hawaiian air the turn over is always just around the corner 2 seasons a year.
I swore never to fly Hawaiian Airlines again. I live on the Big Island. I left my ipad Pro on the airplane and asked staff to get it for me. I waited at the airport four hours. Then I saw on Find My Device it leave the airplane, leave the airport, and arrive at an apartment in Honolulu. Only staff could have done this.
Sorry to hear that. Four hours is a long time and you still didn't get the device.
I’ve been told the customer service on Alaska Airlines is the best.
Good to hear. Looking forward to flying them one day.
I miss Mid Pacific Airlines. 🌈
Fun fact most of the executive team at Aloha ended up running Hawaiian
Alaska inflight service and aircraft is just as good or better thsn Hawaiian. I have flown both for over 30 years and have friends/ relatives that work for both.
I am dating myself, but I sure miss the days of the $350 book-of-ten coupons for Hawaiian Air. If I had a 2PM flight scheduled to fly from one island to another, and I happened to arrive at the airport 75 minutes early with only a carry on, the airline folks would just have me get on the 1PM flight. Nice. But, no more. 9/11 killed that program.
I remember those coupon books too. So nice to be able to walk to the gate to see family board the plane. Miss those days.
Too bad that the management went south with the airline. The employees are GREAT!
This wouldn't have happened if Dan Inouye was alive. But now that he's gone we have lower airfares. Alaska airlines has great service. Im glad that the merger is happening. I fly exclusively to HI
I bought at $3.52 share 😊 should have save that stock 😮
If the merger makes canceling or changing flights easier I am all for it. In 2024 it took over an hour on the phone with a wonderful lady in a foreign country. It was a frustrating experience!
Hopefully that improves.
sad, the only big Hawaiian business that could compete internationally
We also have banks and other businesses that do okay too.
@@HelloFromHawaii which? who? The banks only operate in Hawaii,, right? HECO? no. Dole pineapple was from Hawaii but they really went international and don't talk about Hawaii nor have a big presence in Hawaii.
The guy who started Dole was the cousin of President Standford Dole the president of the Republic of Hawaii. When I was a kid on the mainland I used to see ads for C&H sugar on TV. Gone already.
Hawaiian air is not a local friendly airlines..treating us as mainlanders…
Southwest seems to treat Hawaii locals better…
I like having a seat assignment ,unlike S/W
there's so many things I dislike about hawaiianairlines. Back before southwest came in, and Island Air and GoMesa had gone under, and I was paying $80-100 each to HNL-KOA, I distinctly remember the CEO saying that this was the absolute lowest price they could possibly offer. Obviously complete bull$hit the first day southwest landed at HNL. And I absolutely hate flying SW, I haven't had an on-time flight since 2021, yet I keep flying them because f*** HA. Also their lounge at HNL is the biggest joke of a lounge I've ever seen. Hawaiianmiles also still charging 7500 points for a $39 flight, what's even the point?
Okay, so do you think a $39 fare is a profitable? I understand that as passengers, we want the lowest fare possible. As a business, which all airlines are, do you think it is a profitable price? At the end of the day, all airlines (Southwest & Hawaiian) are businesses which need to show a profit in order to continue to operate.
Next, what is your expectation for the lounge? What types of amenities are you looking for? The same as an International carrier that most passengers paid much more than a First Class ticket on a Neighbor Island or North America flight? I think what we need to realize now is that there is a disconnect between what the passengers think they deserve and the amount it actually would take to provide that service. At the end of the day, every airline that services is a business. Businesses need to make money in order to continue serving. I don’t mean to come across as abrupt or rude, but I feel that sometimes as consumers we forget that part.
😆 Appreciate you sharing, especially the part about how much you hate flying SW too.
Thinking rationally about your statements, "Milking the Hawaiian name" comes to mind. What is it that they do that makes you feel that they are milking the Hawaiian name? HA is the largest local employer in Hawaii who supports cultural events, local events, sports, and our keiki through education advancement. You mentioned about how Southwest doesn't charge for surfboards and bags, but Hawaiian does. Southwest is a far larger company, backed by their vast U.S. mainland network. Southwest actually takes a loss in Hawaii by operating at $39 fares and giving out free baggage. If you look at the fares Southwest has on the U.S. mainland, routes similar in length to our inter-island flights, are much higher than $39, nearing $200 one way. The Southwest vs. Hawaiian argument is a classic example of big box vs. mom and pop. Southwest has the deeper pockets and able to cut fares substantially while taking a loss for the long haul. Whereas Hawaiian is unable to do so as they are locally based with a smaller fleet, routing, and revenue pool to pull from, combined with operating in a remote location. The challenging aspect to operating in Hawaii is always costs. Hawaiian is a business and they need to make decisions that make financial sense. IT and Customer Service are not cheap to keep in Hawaii. Hence, like most businesses, they outsource it. Granted most U.S. carriers keep their call centers in the U.S. but again this goes back to the issue of cost control. Balancing a need to expand the brand to find revenue generating routes, while scaling back in departments that can sustain themselves through outsourcing.
Hawaiian finds itself in a position that Aloha Airlines did not. When it was all said and done, no carrier wanted to buy Aloha Airlines. They had failed to expand their routes out of Hawaii and by the time they did it was already too late. They had not updated their fleet, some of which were 30+ years old and costing more to operate they they were generating. The airline had run themselves thin and to the breaking point. Hawaiian on the other hand, has faced issues that Southwest and other carriers have not. Hawaiian faced the void generated by Aloha's departure. There was a need to fill the gap as the sole jet operator within the Hawaiian Islands. Fleet bolstering and increased routes helped to not only service the consumers, but also generate revenue to further expand. Why did Hawaiian increase their fares? Without Aloha to compete with them, Hawaiian had the blessing and burden of operating alone and needing to push their aircraft to more frequent and quick turnarounds, increasing maintenance and fuel costs. Rising fuel costs during the years after Aloha left also played into the fare increases.
More recently, Southwest entered Hawaii with their undercut fares of $39. A price point where they were not making a profit. This is further bolstered by the fact that they don't charge for bags, an area where revenue can be generated in the airline business. Understandingly, Southwest captured some of Hawaiian's passengers, which is a part of competition. Then, the Covid Pandemic shut down all international travel. This is one area where Hawaiian makes a decent portion of their revenue and it came to a halt for 2 years. In that time, aircraft lease payments, maintenance costs, employee wages, etc. still need to be paid out. No revenue generated, but costs accumulated. Other domestic carriers could still rely on their vast domestic routings and place long haul planes into storage, but Hawaiian was not in a position to do that as it costs money to not only place planes into storage, but to bring them back into service afterwards. As post-pandemic booms began, manufacturing defects with Pratt and Whitney's engines took a toll on Hawaiian's A321 Neo fleet, which Hawaiian runs with only 1-2 spare aircraft. Rolling engine replacements took some aircraft out of service for up to 4 weeks each. Cancelations and reaccommodating plagued HA financials for the bulk of 2023. Lastly, the Lahaina fire in Maui, caused passenger numbers to drop. Kahului, Hawaiian's second busiest hub, saw dwindling numbers and some mainland flights held less than 1/4 of their capacity. Combining this with continued competition from Southwest and the larger legacy carriers, rising operational costs, and low international traffic, and we can see the path Hawaiian has had to take in the past 5+ years.
I didn't make this comment to be biased. What I would like people to realize is just how challenging operating an airline based in Hawaii is and how Hawaiian has faced many challenges over the years, where some of its competition did not.
Mahalo :)
The takeover had to happen. Without it, Hawaiian would most likely have had to file for bankruptcy with $900 million in debt. The merger cancels the debt. HOWEVER, not quite sold on the Alaska CEO. He seemed to say all the right things but you know, once the ink dries on the new contract, he becomes the sole CEO and at that point, I would think everything is on the table for change. It would be wise to keep all the Hawaiian employees with their preset knowledge, but it really depends on how much they will cost salary-wise. If they are making much more than Alaska employees doing the same job, CEO will either have to reduce their salaries or raise Alaska employees' salaries to meet Hawaiian's. I'll give you one guess as to what he'd prefer to do.
I also agree with you that ALOHA was the peoples' airline. The fact that you mentioned not caring for Hawaiian is the same reaction I get when I say I don't care for Zippy's. People often raise their eyebrows and go, "WHAT???" I'll fly Hawaiian to go interisland because I don't like the open seating at Southwest, and to the mainland, but flying to Asia, I will always opt for JAL, even if I have to pay a little more (which is not always the case nowadays). You absolutely cannot beat JAL service. It's something Hawaiian is starting to neglect. That, and being "on time."
Mahalo for sharing. We'll see how the transition goes between the two companies.
As an aside, even as a Zippy's Brand Ambassador, I understand not caring for them. Every person has preferences and those should be respected. Still, hard to beat the convenience and consistency when you want to eat local food.
@@HelloFromHawaii Thanks! And yes, I know you are a Zippy's ambassador but, as you say, everyone has their preferences. But as far as convenience is concerned, there is L&L where it is much cheaper and massive portions, two things Zippy's is neglecting. When I get L&L chicken katsu, for example, that thing is so full of katsu that the cover can barely close. I can even share it or save leftovers for the next day.
They're in way more debt than that, they're sitting at 1.9 Billion.
Don't be too impressed with Alaska CEO and how he spoke. Taking on a new airline when he can't even solve all of the major issues with his current airline, is going to be a huge problem. Alaska is one of the worst airlines and consistently is one of the lowest rated. We had massive issue with them a few months ago with plane being delayed on the runway, we taxied back to gate - sat for an hour and a half in the plane - finally took off. We had a connecting flight we were going to miss - they promised on the plane that there was a team of agents waiting to take care of everyone. We got off the plane and no one was there - we had to run about a mile to the service desk where there was one person to take care of a flight full of people. This is only one story - I hear this type of thing from everyone that flies Alaska. I have never had any issues with Hawaiian. I just hope that Hawaiian doesn't inherit the issues Alaska has.
I fly Alaska all the time (for years) and I have had a great experience.
I am from Seattle and fly with Alaska frequently. Never had an issue. I LOVE flying with Alaska. My experience is very positive.
@@barbie19604 We live in Portland and use them all them time as well - never had a great experience and no one I know has. But could be you have been lucky and we haven't - never know - everyone has different experiences I guess!
Mahalo for sharing. It sounds like a rough experience. Again, hoping that Hawaiian improves.
You don’t hear this from everyone who flys Alaska. I can sit here and say the same thing about Hawaiian Airlines. If you had a bad experience, okay. The issues with the merger will not be with be one of the consistently highest rated airlines.
Big fish eat little fish… 🐟 🐠
no airlines around , no flights, stay home!! Pay the prices ??
Of course JAL is better, its a Japanese Airline 😂 However, when it comes to traveling from Hawai'i to the continental US, id rather fly Hawaiian. No other airlines gonna give me POG!
They still serve POG?
Get a wheelchair or hire a porter to jump the line - TSA precheck
All the it jobs will go to enemy coolies as happened in seattle
The Hawaiian app and website suck! Alaska management is going to clean all this up and really improve Hawaiian and make the brand competitive and sustainable. Alaska management has proven they know how to compete with Southwest and Delta, much larger carriers that tried unsuccessfully to eat Alaska’s lunch.
Alaska Airlines is so much more expensive (LAX-> KOA $400 at Alaska vs $200 at Hawaiian) and the flights are so much longer (5 hrs from LAX->KOA with Hawaiian vs 10+ hrs from LAX->SEATTLE-> KOA)
I don't look forward to this. Hopefully Alaska will keep the same costs and flight routes)
I don't care that much about service, I care more about price & hours. When I have to use Alaska, they are quite rude. I experience quite good service at Hawaiian (except their food, which I think we know is gross 😂)
Hopefully Alaska improves & listen to customer feedback.
Hawaii is small potatoes for the airline industry.
True, but could be valuable for inter-island and international routes.