Yesterday came and went without an announcement, but now it’s official:
oneworld® has welcomed Hawaiian Airlines as its newest member airline, becoming the third US-based carrier alongside Alaska Airlines and American Airlines and adding Honolulu as a global hub.
oneworld refers to Hawaiian both as a member airline and an affiliate on its website (the difference doesn’t matter as far as travelers are concerned), but the logo gets top billing in alliance branding:
Christine Hitt, reporting for SFGate:
“There’s still been growth in visitor numbers but the per person in real inflation-adjusted terms, spending was at its highest actually in 1988, so it means tourists now are spending less than they did individually in 1988,” Steven Bond-Smith, an economist at the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii, told SFGATE by phone.
Bond-Smith said a healthy economy in the US averages about 2% growth over long periods of time, but Hawaii is averaging much lower, at around 0.6%. Because the state hasn’t kept pace with the continent, residents are driven to leave.
“You need higher- and higher-value jobs and activities being done here,” Bond-Smith said. The jobs that tend to offer higher wages are in very large US cities and they’re particularly in tech or biotech, he explained. “The main activity here is obviously tourism, and it hasn’t had that kind of income growth that other places have had.”
Simple Flying, reporting on Alaska’s hub strategy after acquiring Hawaiian:
Following the airlines’ merger, more than 20% more seats are now on offer between Seattle and Honolulu, with three of the six daily flights operated by widebody aircraft. Further down the coast, Portland now sees three daily nonstop flights to Hawaii, representing an increase of 25% more seats.
Two daily flights now take off between San Diego and Maui, with new routes from San Francisco to Kona and Lihue. This will see the group now offer four daily nonstop flights from San Francisco to the main airports in the state. The Hawaiian A330 will also add a once-daily service between Honolulu and Sacramento.
So, one upshot of Alaska’s purchase – so far – has been more seats between Hawaii and both Seattle and San Francisco, two cities with thriving tech sectors. Approving that acquisition was a no-brainer.
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Hawaiian, today:
Starting this year through 2029, Hawaiian Airlines will renovate lobbies and gates in Honolulu, Līhu‘e, Kahului, Kona and Hilo to improve passenger flow and comfort, with bright, elegant open spaces and better seating and amenities like increased power charging. In Honolulu, Hawaiian’s busiest hub, the airline will build a spacious 10,600-square-foot premium lounge at the entrance of the Mauka Concourse in Terminal 1 – setting a new standard of preflight comfort.
And good news for the A330, which currently serves long-haul routes like New York and Sydney:
Hawaiian Airlines’ fleet of widebody Airbus A330s, based in Honolulu, will undergo a full interior upgrade, starting in 2028, with new seats, carpets, lighting, first class suites, and a premium economy cabin. Guests will also enjoy a Bluetooth-enabled in-flight entertainment system with high-definition seatback screens and an extensive movie and music library, along with fast and free Starlink Wi-Fi. The airline is also acquiring three of its A330 aircraft off lease to support the future of this fleet in its service across the Pacific.
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Here are the routes, planes, services, and other changes that caught my eye for 2026.
oneworld
Alaska
American
British
Cathay
Fiji
Finnair
Iberia
JAL
Malaysia
Oman
Qantas
Qatar
Royal Air Maroc
Royal Jordanian
SriLankan
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