Hawaiian Airlines Begins Layoffs Due to Acquisition of Alaska Air

Hawaiian Airlines plans to cut 73 of its 1,400 non-contract employees in Hawaii and the mainland after its recent merger with Alaska Air Group Inc.

The job cuts come more than a month after Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, announced Sept. 18 that it had completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Holdings, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines. Merger It’s the first major airline combination in the U.S. since 2016, when federal regulators cleared Alaska to merge with Virgin America.

Hawaii spokesman Alex Da Silva said the vast majority of Hawaii’s 1,400 non-contract employees “have received offers to stay with the combined organization for at least 6 months, and the intention is to retain the majority of people for a year or longer, many with long-term offers.” We also continue to encourage everyone to apply for open positions within our combined organization.”

Da Silva added: “We expect some temporary non-contract positions tied to specific integration milestones to be completed once projects are completed in the next 6 to 18 months.”

Further cuts could occur as airlines move closer to using a single operating certificate. Aviation historian Peter Foreman said he expects more layoffs of non-negotiating members, especially as temporary jobs come to an end.

“The number of layoffs is so small, I expect there could be more, but probably not significantly more,” he said. “There’s not a lot of overlap here, so I think there will be fewer layoffs than most mergers, but obviously there are cuts in the front office.”

The layoffs so far include 57 people in Hawaii and an additional 16 on the mainland, which da Silva said were “primarily due to duplicative, non-contracted airport operations support functions.”

Andy Schneider, executive vice president of Alaska Airlines’ People Team, announced workforce reductions in Hawaii Thursday afternoon, notifying state Labor and Industrial Relations Director Jade Butai in a mandatory notice of worker adjustments and retraining.

The layoffs in Hawaii include 52 people at Hawaiian’s headquarters, which employs 825 people, four people at Hawaiian’s aircraft cargo hangar, which employs 213 people, and one at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, which employs 87 people.

Da Silva said all 73 non-contract employees leaving Hawaiian will keep their jobs until Dec. 17, which is 90 days from the closing of the merger. He said they will be paid through the end of the year and will receive both retention and severance pay, as well as personalized outplacement services.

“We know this is a very challenging time for our team members and we are committed to supporting everyone as they navigate their career transition,” said da Silva.

(Already an air cargo giant, Anchorage International Airport has added five new carriers.)

These latest personnel changes at Hawaiian follow individual conversations over the past several weeks between Hawaiian’s non-contract employees and the newly formed transition team. Those conversations ended earlier this month.

They also came after significant merger-related management changes. Peter Ingram resigned as president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines following the closing of the deal. Joe Sprague, regional president of Alaska Airlines Hawaii/Pacific, has taken over as CEO of Hawaiian Airlines and will lead an interim leadership team overseeing Hawaiian’s operations while Alaska seeks a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Other management departures include Aaron Alter, Hawaiian’s chief legal officer; Avi Mannis, Hawaiian’s chief marketing officer; Brent Overbeek, Hawaiian’s chief revenue officer; John Snook, Chief Operating Officer of Hawaii; Robin Sparling, Hawaiian’s InFlight Services; and Rob Sorenson, Hawaiian Marketing and E-Commerce.

In the meantime, the airlines will continue to operate as individual carriers without any immediate changes to their operations. Sprague said integration of websites, reservation systems and loyalty programs will happen later in the transition period. The goal is for both airlines to eventually operate as a single carrier with an integrated passenger experience. However, he said, both airlines will retain separate brands.

The combined airline employs approximately 33,000 people in North America, Asia and the Pacific.

Hawaiian’s airline unions, which represent approximately 6,000 workers, were confident from the outset of the merger process that Hawaiian would retain and grow union jobs, and the unions have actively supported them throughout the regulatory process.

Entering his first day as head of Hawaiian, Sprague told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the airline will work with unions to consolidate seniority and that the combined airline will negotiate new joint collective bargaining agreements with its union workers.

These labor decisions come at a time when labor costs are a top priority for many airlines, especially Hawaii’s.

Jeffrey Eslinger, senior director of market analysis for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, who presented the air travel outlook Wednesday at an Asia Pacific Travel Association Hawaii Chapter event, noted that top U.S. airlines posted record revenues in 2024. However, Eslinger said, “They also had record expenses. Their income was up 2%, but their expenses were up 3%.”

He said that 54% of an airline’s total costs are labor and fuel, and that these and other costs influence an airline’s decision to commit to long-haul destinations such as Hawaii.

Eslinger said labor accounts for 33% of operating costs at Hawaiian, which has the second-highest operating costs due to labor behind Southwest Airlines.