Alaska and Hawaiian airlines say their merger has resulted in a net gain of more than 1,100 jobs and is ahead of schedule financially nearly two years after receiving federal approval, although the companies still have not completed joint labor agreements for unionized workers.

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Ahead of the Sept. 18 anniversary of Alaska Air Group’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Holdings, Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci and Hawaiian Airlines CEO Diana Birkett Rakow told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the combined carrier has completed several key integration milestones, including a single operating certificate achieved in September of 2025, a unified loyalty program in October, and a single passenger service system in April that reduced guest friction by connecting websites, mobile apps, airport kiosks, reservation records, and loyalty programs like Atmos Rewards and Huaka‘i by Hawaiian.

The executives said the merger also has expanded travel options for Hawaii residents through Alaska’s growing international network and strengthened the combined carrier’s financial performance despite ongoing industry challenges.

Alaska Air Group last month reported second-­quarter revenue of $4.1 billion and a net loss of $76 million, or an adjusted loss of 92 cents per share, better than analysts’ expectations of a 99-cent loss. The carrier also reported plans to nearly double its cargo aircraft capacity by 2027, as well as replace Hawaiian’s aging interisland fleet by redeploying larger Boeing 737-800s from Alaska’s existing fleet beginning in 2028.

Executives said higher fuel costs weighed on the second-quarter results, but merger synergies and investments under Alaska Accelerate, the company’s three-year growth plan, remain on track. Minicucci said that the carrier expects to generate $1 billion in merger-related synergies by 2027, including about $800 million in revenue initiatives and $200 million in cost savings.

“Everything that we thought about that would get realized with bringing these wonderful companies together, we’ve realized,” Minicucci said. “We’re totally on track of achieving that by 2027 and we’re ahead on several of the initiatives.”

Minicucci graded the merger a “solid B,” saying that the airline is ahead of schedule on financial targets, but still has work to do integrating employee groups and securing joint labor agreements.

“So for me, ‘A’ is a high bar. ‘A’ would have been like totally flawless and no issues,” Minicucci said. “But I’m super proud of our employees for everything that they’ve accomplished and executed over the last couple of years.”

According to Alex Da Silva, Alaska’s regional communications director for Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines had 7,362 employees at the end of 2023 before the merger.

“Today we have a workforce of nearly 6,100 Hawaiian Airlines employees across the islands and almost 7,200 systemwide in the U.S. Continent, Oceania and Asia,” he said.

Since the acquisition closed, Da Silva said that the company has hired more than 1,497 employees, primarily in Hawaii-­based union positions supporting growth of the combined carrier’s network.

At the same time, 418 nonunion Hawaiian Airlines employees received WARN notices advising them that interim positions would end as integration milestones were completed. Of those, 383 have left the company.

“The remaining employees have found long-term roles in our company or retired,” Da Silva said.

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He said “a smaller number of duplicative nonunion roles” are expected to end as the company reaches future integration milestones, including joint collective-bargaining agreements with labor groups.

Birkett Rakow said the companies have made significant progress but still have work to do to complete the integration.

“We’re not done. We are still in integration,” she said. “We have made a huge amount of progress, but there’s still work we have to do to get to where we want to go — bringing the work groups together, building on the platform we have.”

She pointed to the launch of a unified loyalty program with expanded benefits, access to the oneworld alliance and enhancements for Hawaii residents through the Huaka‘i by Hawaiian program. She also cited investments in retrofitted Airbus A330 cabins, airport improvements and a new mobile app designed to improve the customer experience.

“We’re going to continue to make those investments listening to our guests and our employees so that the Hawaiian brand and the Aloha brand can continue to be really strong and serving the community,” Birkett Rakow said.

Minicucci described joint collective-bargaining agreements as the final major merger-integration milestone.

“I think what you’ll start seeing in the next six, 12, 18, 24 months is different unions making different levels of progress,” he said. “We’re hopeful it will be sooner rather than later, but there’s a process that has to get executed and we’ll get through it.”

Until those agreements are reached, Alaska and Hawaiian employees continue operating under separate labor contracts.

The unfinished labor integration also is shaping how some aircraft are deployed. Da Silva said Hawaiian’s Boeing 787 fleet is being painted in Alaska’s global livery to support international expansion through Seattle, giving Hawaii travelers one-stop connections to destinations including Paris; London; Rome; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Athens, Greece.

But the aircraft continue to be staffed by Hawaiian Airlines crews pending joint labor agreements.

“As we move forward together as one airline with two brands, the Hawaiian Airlines brand will lead our flying to, from, and within Hawaii, with the Alaska Airlines brand leading our flying from our U.S. West Coast hubs, and the global expression of the Alaska brand leading our flying from our Seattle international hub,” Da Silva said. “The full expression of that strategy takes time as we work through the full integration of our airline operations.”

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