Alaska-Hawaiian merger grows carriers’ cargo reach

Alaska Air Cargo operations co-located with Hawaiian Air Cargo operations in Honolulu starting March 29, the latest step in expanding operations following the merger of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024. Alaska Airlines’ parent company, Alaska Air Group, acquired Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion last year. [caption id="attachment_57143047" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] A Hawaiian Airlines airplane takes off near an Alaska Airlines airplane at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). (Courtesy/Bloomberg)[/caption] In addition to co-locating cargo operations in Honolulu (HNL), the airlines have co-located operations in Kona (KOA), Lihue (LIH) and Kahului (OGG) in the past few months. Though the airlines’ cargo teams will share space, they will continue to operate separately, the airlines said in a release. However, this connectivity has expanded route offerings to customers, Ian Morgan, vice president of cargo at Alaska Airlines, told Cargo Facts . “We have three times the number of potential routes than we had separately,” Morgan said. “That is one of the strengths we will be playing on very heavily.” Alaska Air Group also has increased cargo capacity via freighters and bellyhold. Alaska Airlines is the only scheduled passenger airline in the United States to also operate its own freighters, flying two 737-800BCFs (35681 and 35682) and three 737-700BDSFs (30792, 30793 and 30794). Hawaiian signed a deal in 2022 to operate ten converted A330 freighters for Amazon on a CMI basis. Thus far, Hawaiian is flying eight A330-300P2Fs (1902, 1863, 1865, 1874, 1081, 1071, 1226 and 1245) for Amazon. Two additional A330-300P2Fs (1205 and 1167) have yet to enter service. Growing partnerships The airline merger has resulted in increased opportunities for partnerships and interline agreements, Morgan said. Alaska Air Cargo is in talks with several unidentified airlines across the globe to share capacity and increase each airline’s geographic reach. “People see us as a conduit and a connection to markets they could never reach,” he said. Since the merger, Morgan has elevated the position of interline partnership manager, making it a role that reports directly to him, he said. “Synergies are just appearing,” Morgan said. “We're having a different kind of conversation than we had pre-merger, because we were selling Alaska and Hawaiian was selling Hawaiian, and there were at least two to three opportunities between yesterday and today that would not be possible, not have occurred, without the combination of both these carriers coming together, whether it's infrastructure, whether it's the connectivity of the flight and the joint sales approach. “That connectivity and route development is really coming on strong,” he said. “It's making sure we're aligned, but also that we're communicating the new structure and the new opportunity of Alaska and Hawaiian.” Investing in tech Alaska Air Cargo is looking into AI solutions to analyze cargo volumes to determine when and where employees should be deployed, Morgan said. “We're using that to bring efficiencies in terms of coverage, improving customer experience, because it also takes [into account] when the peak deliveries and collections happen,” he said. “We have just started using that to build tools to help us with that, especially as we're growing. “We're not standing still, we're not static,” he said. “We need to be equipped as Alaska and Hawaiian.” Register now for Cargo Facts EMEA, an essential regional event for industry stakeholders, on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

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