The Alaska Airlines Group has been approved by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for the transfer of Hawaii Airlines' operating certificates.
On July 14, the DOT approved the de facto transfer of Hawaiian-owned “certificate and other economic authorities” to Alaska Airlines' parent company, Alaska Air Group, and its wholly owned regional subsidiary, Horizon Air.
The Alaska Air Group has been working for several months to combine Alaska and Hawaiian under one certificate of operation under a single certificate of operation, which is expected to be completed in October.
The DOT list says the relocation will take effect in 60 days unless disapproved by US President Donald Trump, who holds the authority to consider an “international aviation decision” under Executive Order 12597 issued by Ronald Reagan in 1987. As a result, the Alaska Airlines Group is planning to use Hawaiian's operating certificate in mid-September.
In addition to the business certificate, Hawaiian holds valuable international route authorities, including the authority to fly to the highly-rated slots at Tokyo Haneda Airport and the Tahitian Papites.
Such a long-distance route is a game-changer for Alaska Air Group, which is pursuing a massive international expansion from Seattle, in addition to the Airbus A330 based at Daniel K Inoie International Airport in Honolulu, as well as Hawaiian Boeing 787-9S.
Alaska operates all Boeing 737 fleets, focusing primarily on the West Coast of North America. Alaska has not responded to FlightGlobal's request for comments regarding the transfer of Hawaiian's operating certificate.
Hawaiian also has codeshare agreements with partners from many airlines, including Taiwan's China Airlines, Japan Airlines, Korea Airlines, Virgin Australia, Air China, Turkish Airlines and Philippine Airlines.
Alaska and Hawaiian say that in DOT applications for certificate transfers their networks are complementary and there is little overlap in routes.
“Alaska Airlines intends to maintain its Hawaiian brand and current international services, and will not cut or eliminate US carrier international services as it allows combined airlines to launch new non-stop and connectivity services,” they say.
