Alaska Airlines After Hawaiian Merger: What Changed

Alaska Airlines closed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024, and the combined carrier now operates roughly 365 aircraft from two hub clusters, three widebody types, and one of the best mileage programs in North America. I spent 10 years on airline revenue and ticketing desks before this, and even I had to rewrite my rules for Alaska after the close. The short version: the program got stronger, the route map got more interesting, and a few old tricks stopped working.

The fleet just got widebodies

Alaska before the deal was a single-fleet narrowbody shop, almost entirely 737-800s, 737-900ERs, and 737 MAX 9s with Embraer E175 regional jets on the periphery. Hawaiian brought a very different mix. Here is what the combined carrier flies today.

Aircraft	Count (approx)	Role	Typical routes
Boeing 737-800/900/MAX 9	~240	Short and medium haul domestic	Anywhere in the continental US, Mexico, Canada
Embraer E175 (via Horizon/SkyWest)	~45	Regional	West Coast thin routes
Airbus A321neo	18	Transcon and Hawaii	LAX/JFK to Honolulu, some mainland-Hawaii
Airbus A330-200	24	Long-haul Pacific	Honolulu to Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney
Boeing 717	19	Inter-island	HNL to Maui, Kauai, Big Island
Boeing 787-9	2 (growing to 12)	New long-haul	HNL to Tokyo launched 2024

The 787-9 is the headline. Hawaiian had ordered them before the merger and the first two entered service in 2024, with more arriving through 2027. If you want to fly lie-flat from the mainland to Hawaii on a reasonable award chart, the 787-9 is increasingly the seat to chase.

What happened to the brands

For now, Alaska and Hawaiian are operating under separate brands and separate operating certificates. They will merge onto a single certificate over the next 18 to 24 months, during which you'll see some painful edge cases: bags that interline but miles that don't credit right, upgrades that don't cross-honor, and the occasional reservation that locks in one system and can't be serviced from the other. Expect that mess through most of 2026.

Mileage Plan is still the best program in the US, arguably

Alaska Mileage Plan has carried oneworld since March 2021, which means it earns and redeems on airlines like American, British Airways, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and Iberia. The Hawaiian merger folds HawaiianMiles into this orbit, and the redemption chart on partner awards remains one of the best values in North American loyalty.

A few of the sweet spots still standing as of this run:

JAL business class SEA or SFO to Tokyo: 60,000 Mileage Plan miles one-way, which is flat to the old 2021 chart.
Cathay Pacific business class US to Hong Kong: 50,000 miles one-way in economy on partner, 85,000 in business class. Award space is thin but real.
Qantas business class LAX to Sydney: 55,000 miles one-way on the A380 is the gold-standard value, though finding space is a seasonal exercise.
Intra-Hawaii on the 717: Alaska-HawaiianMiles sweeps that inter-island award down to 5,000 miles one-way, which is half what it used to cost on HawaiianMiles alone.

For a deeper look at what these redemptions buy you in business class flights versus cash prices, the JAL and Cathay awards are two of the best cents-per-mile values on the trans-Pacific map right now.

What changed for elite status

Mileage Plan elite tiers (MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K, MVP Gold 100K) now extend upgrade and priority privileges across both airlines in most cases, though seat selection on Hawaiian metal still requires more clicks than it should. If you're chasing status, one useful change: Hawaiian flights now earn Mileage Plan elite-qualifying miles at published rates, which makes Honolulu-based travelers eligible for Gold tier on far fewer segments than before.

Routes that are genuinely new, and one that disappeared

The combined network gave Alaska a legitimate international arm without having to build one from scratch.

Honolulu to Tokyo Narita and Haneda on the A330-200 (and now 787-9 on HND), Seoul Incheon, Sydney, and Auckland. These are Hawaiian flights rebranded to the Alaska-Hawaiian combined carrier.
Seattle to Tokyo Narita on Alaska-operated widebodies launched in May 2025 using a leased-in aircraft, a route Alaska could never have launched without the acquisition.
Mainland to Hawaii transcon density almost doubled; Alaska now flies more seats from the US West Coast to the South Pacific than any other US carrier.

One route that went away: the short-lived Hawaiian-operated HNL to Boston on the A321neo was terminated in mid-2024, with Hawaiian citing weak demand. Honolulu-Boston is back to a two-stop itinerary on most search engines.

The loyalty program quirks to watch

A few specific friction points I've hit this year pricing tickets for clients:

Mileage Plan awards on Hawaiian metal: still priced off the old HawaiianMiles chart for now, with a conversion ratio baked in. Some routes are cheaper in Mileage Plan, some are cheaper in HawaiianMiles, and the Alaska app doesn't always show you the better price.
Partner awards that route through HNL: you can now stitch Mainland + Honolulu + Asia on a single Mileage Plan award with a stopover in Hawaii, which is the single most under-advertised change from this merger.
Upgrade logic on Hawaiian flights: MVP Golds complain about upgrade clears being random. Hawaiian's legacy system prioritizes fare class and booking date differently than Alaska's. Expect this to smooth out only after the single-certificate date.

Alaska publishes their Mileage Plan award chart at alaskaair.com and the partner chart is worth bookmarking, because it's one of the few in the US that hasn't moved to dynamic pricing.

Should you pick Alaska as your primary carrier now

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, always. Alaska is the dominant carrier at Seattle, Portland, Anchorage, and a few thousand feet up the leaderboard at San Francisco and San Diego. Post-merger, Honolulu-based and Maui-based travelers also effectively have Alaska as their primary option.

If you live east of the Rockies, Alaska is still a credit-card-and-partner-award play more than a primary carrier, because the east-of-Denver route network is thin. The Mileage Plan card is still worth having for the companion fare alone, which prints $122 round-trip on a paid ticket of almost any length once a year. The companion fare math on a Hawaii or Alaska trip alone clears the annual fee.

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Frequently asked questions

Are Alaska and Hawaiian the same airline now?

Legally yes, operationally not quite. They closed the merger in September 2024 and now operate under a single parent company, but the two airlines still have separate operating certificates, separate reservation systems for now, and two distinct brands. Full integration is expected over the next 18 to 24 months.

Can I use Mileage Plan miles on Hawaiian flights?

Yes, and you can also use HawaiianMiles on Alaska flights. The pricing isn't always consistent between the two programs for the same seat, so price in both before you redeem.

Did the merger change Alaska's oneworld membership?

No. Alaska is still a full oneworld member, and Hawaiian flights are being progressively folded into the oneworld framework. Hawaiian's old JetBlue partnership has largely wound down.

What's the best Mileage Plan sweet spot in 2026?

JAL business class between the US West Coast and Tokyo at 60,000 miles one-way is still the headline value. Cathay Pacific business class and Qantas business to Australia are close seconds, though award space is the bottleneck on both.

Is Hawaiian's 787-9 worth flying?

If you can catch it on HNL-HND or a future trans-Pacific route, yes. The lie-flat Leihoku Suites in business are genuinely excellent, and the economy cabin is a clear upgrade over the A330-200.