Passengers boarding an Alaska Airlines 787 in Seattle, bound for Europe, are sometimes greeted with an “aloha!” from the flight deck.
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Passengers → board → deck
After acquiring Hawaiian Airlines in 2024, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines reassigned Hawaiian’s wide-body 787s – which originally served island routes – to carry passengers long-distance from Seattle to destinations across Europe and Asia.
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which → acquire → Europe
Because the flight crews certified to fly those 787s came over from Hawaiian Airlines, the greeting habit stuck.
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habit → certify → Airlines
Hawaiian flight crews, once used to flying passengers from all over the world to Hawaii, are now flying from Seattle to Europe and Asia.
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crews → use → Europe
That’s not to say Hawaiian Airlines is backing away from Australia.
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Airlines → ’ → Australia
It flies between five and seven non-stop flights a week between Honolulu and Sydney, using A330s.
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It → fly → A330s
“We do see pretty solid connecting traffic through Honolulu to North America,” said Hawaiian Airlines chief executive Diana Birkett Rakow.
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Rakow → see → America
She says Australians choosing to fly to Europe via Hawaii are making a “really interesting value proposition”.
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Australians → say → proposition
“If you are in Hawaii, for example, flying through Seattle to connect to Europe is by far the most direct route to go,” she said.
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she → fly → Europe
“If we flew in non-stop, you’d essentially go over Seattle.”
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you → fly → Seattle
It’s a more geographically direct route than Los Angeles or San Francisco simply because the route is farther north, she said.
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she → ’ → Angeles
“So I think that’s a cool option for folks from Australia that want to go that route or also want to take a stop-over in Hawaii,” Rakow said.
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Rakow → think → Hawaii
According to Hawaiian Airlines, as many as 60 per cent of Australians travelling to North America make a stop-over seasonally.
uncertain
cent → accord → over
The prospect of reaching Europe from the US – either via Hawaii or Seattle – is not just a roundabout way to avoid the Middle East.
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prospect → reach → East
Alaska Airlines is now flying to Asia and Europe from its hub in Seattle as part of the race to be the next major American carrier.
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Airlines → fly → race
They will sit alongside Delta, United, American and Southwest.
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They → sit → Delta
For Alaska Airlines that means expanding from a major regional hub to being a national, and now international, competitor.
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that → mean → hub
When Alaska bought Hawaiian in 2024, it announced a three-year surge designed to add $1 billion in profit to the company in a program called “Accelerate”.
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it → buy → program
Like so many other ambitious expansions in the aviation sector, “Accelerate” ran headlong into a surge in costs driven by higher fuel prices, the result of open-ended conflict in the Middle East.
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Accelerate → run → East
Yet despite the jump in operating costs being passed along to consumers, demand for travel remains strong.
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demand → pass → travel
Like other airlines with global aspirations, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are now leaning heavily into the premium economy space.
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Airlines → lean → space
They are introducing a new premium travel brand called Aurora, inspired by its roots across Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, with refreshed cabins, better lounges and a higher quality of food.
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They → introduce → food
“Our guests have told us that premium matters,” Alaska Airlines chief executive Ben Minicucci told an audience of journalists and investors.
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Minicucci → tell → journalists
“They want the same elevated experience whether they’re crossing the Pacific, the Atlantic or crossing the country.”
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they → want → country
At the same time, Hawaiian Airlines will roll out a premium brand experience called Lei Hoku, meaning “garland of stars” in Hawaiian.
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Airlines → roll → Hawaiian
The plan will mean Hawaiian Airlines’ 24-plane-strong A330 fleet will be given 22 lie-flat suites on international business class and domestic first class flights.
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fleet → mean → flights
For Australians flying across the Pacific, Hawaii’s A330 fleet is already fully wired with ultra-fast Starlink – satellite-based internet Wi-Fi.
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fleet → fly → Starlink
“We are all-in on Starlink – for free, for everybody,” said Alaska Airlines chief financial officer Shane Tackett.
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Tackett → say → everybody
“It’s an amazing experience.
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It → ’ → ?
Rakow said business travellers “want full connectivity, especially for a longer flight”.
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travellers → say → flight
Qantas offers Viasat internet connection for passengers, in a rollout that is still not complete.
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that → offer → rollout
Asked if there was a concern about Elon Musk’s Starlink acquiring too much power over the aviation sector, Rakow said the airline was focused on making sure it delivered what passengers want.
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passengers → ask → what
“The way that business and technology works is that somebody’s going to come up with a competitor to Starlink or maybe even something better, who knows?
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who → work → Starlink
After the cabin upgrades are complete, the full cabin will have about 40 per cent premium seating, up from 30 per cent today.
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cabin → have → cent
Passengers will also have dedicated check-in desks and an airy new Hawaiian Lounge in Honolulu, as well as a chef-designed menu and better amenities.
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Passengers → have → Honolulu
The bad news for Hawaiian Airlines: the upgrade won’t happen until 2028.
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upgrade → happen → 2028
Qantas flies almost the same route from Honolulu to Sydney.
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Qantas → fly → Sydney
While Hawaiian Airlines, which just joined the Oneworld alliance, costs more in points to book, it has cheaper fees and taxes.
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it → join → fees
“Not all Qantas frequent flyers know that you can use Qantas points on a wide range of other partner airlines, which includes Hawaiian Airlines,” Brandon Loo, editor-in-chief of Point Hacks, told this masthead.
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Loo → know → masthead
“On the Sydney-Honolulu route, Hawaiian Airlines charges $161 in fees and taxes for a business class reward, whereas Qantas charges $777.
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Qantas → charge → 777
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
