Alaska’s Hawaiian Airlines acquisition: What it means for air cargo
Both airlines will now serve over 130 destinations with narrow- and wide-body aircraft.
Alaska Airlines has finalised its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. The company confirmed the deal's completion following regulatory approval. The two U.S. airlines announced the deal in December 2023, but it required federal regulatory approval before being finalised.
Both airlines have started the process of securing a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Once the certificate is approved, the airlines will operate as a single entity while maintaining their individual public-facing brands, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
The combined cargo operations of the two airlines offer a robust solution for transporting goods between Alaska, Hawaii, and the continental U.S. The airlines have stated that their fleet of narrow and wide-body aircraft will now serve over 130 destinations.
Alaska Air Cargo operates a dedicated freighter fleet consisting of Boeing 737-800 and 737-700 aircraft, each capable of carrying up to 50,000 pounds. Currently, Alaska has an active fleet of 3 Boeing 737-700F aircraft and 2 Boeing 737-800F aircraft.
At present, Alaska Air Cargo has over 1,300 daily flights to more than 100 destinations across North America which also includes cargo flights operated by its fleet of 5 Boeing 737 freighters.
Among all the commodities it transports, the airline is particularly known for carrying a significant amount of seafood. Speaking in an earlier episode of Cargo Masterminds by STAT Media Group, Adam Drouhard, Managing Director of Cargo at Alaska Airlines, mentioned that the airline carries an average of 25 million pounds of seafood annually, contributing substantially to its total cargo volume.
The airline's total fleet comprises 326 aircraft which includes 240 Boeing 737 aircraft (including 5 freighters) and 86 Embraer 175. The Embraer 175s and the Boeing 737s provide additional belly cargo space. Alaska’s Embraer 175s are operated by Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines. Horizon Air is a regional airline and a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, and SkyWest Airlines, another regional airline operates and maintains these aircraft under contract with Alaska Airlines.
Hawaiian Air Cargo, a division of Hawaiian Airlines, offers frequent flights to Asia and the South Pacific with a network of over 160 daily departures. The airline operates dedicated Airbus A330 freighters for Amazon under the Prime Air brand. Currently, the fleet includes 5 A330 freighters in service, with an additional 5 on order. Hawaiian Airlines started operating freighters for Amazon in October 2023.
Amazon Air has leased these aircraft from Altavair, with the passenger-to-freighter conversions being handled by Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), a joint venture between Airbus and ST Engineering.
Under the commercial agreement, Hawaiian Holdings, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, granted Amazon warrants to acquire up to 15 percent of its common shares. These warrants can be exercised over the next 9 years. This practice is typical for Amazon Air, which also follows a similar approach with its other freighter operators, including Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) and Atlas Air Worldwide.
Now that Alaska has acquired Hawaiian Airlines, it will also take over the cargo operations for Amazon as part of the merger.