How Hawaiian hopes to surf the Oneworld wave

Aloha all around the world – that’s the message from Hawaiian Airlines, which is now spreading its wings as a member of the Oneworld alliance.

“You can think of (Oneworld) as a virtual network that literally reaches around the globe, through all of the member airlines,” Hawaiian Airlines CEO Diana Birkett Rakow tells Executive Traveller.

“Putting our networks together and with the growth that we and Alaska are undergoing right now, you could go from Sydney to Honolulu to Seattle to London if you wanted.”

For his part, Oneworld CEO Ole Orvér says “this is about bringing the world closer to the beautiful islands of Hawaii, and bringing Hawaii closer to the world.”

Hawaiian Airlines is spreading its wings.

“And we are thrilled to add ‘Aloha’ to the Oneworld vocabulary.”

Hawaiian Airlines will also boost the alliance’s footprint in the Pacific region, especially for Round The World bookings as well as the Circle Pacific fare.

“Southeast Asia used to be sort of a weakness of ours, now it’s becoming a real strength, in this part of the world with Hawaiian, Philippine Airlines and Fiji Airways,” Orvér tells Executive Traveller.

The quest for thoughtful travellers

Birkett Rakow hopes the Oneworld partnership will bring what she calls “thoughtful travellers” to the islands.

“We focus a lot on inspiring our guests to take care of Hawaii, to help us take care of Hawaii,” she explains.

“And that means visiting local businesses, being thoughtful about our wildlife and natural resources, caring about and understanding local culture and language….  it’s really just about being respectful and thoughtful as you travel.”

While becoming part of Oneworld is a monumental step in Hawaiian Airlines’ 96-year history, the official joining date of April 22 also saw the carrier’s HA flight numbers replaced by the AS designations of Alaska Airlines, following a US$1.9bn buyout of the Honolulu-based airline.

Hawaiian Airlines is now fully 'integrated' into parent Alaska Airlines.

“As we were looking at the potential of bringing together both airlines, we were able to see a lot of the benefits” of bringing Hawaiian into the Oneworld family, says Alex Judson, who heads Partnerships & International for Alaska Airlines.

This will become even more pronounced when Philippine Airlines joins the alliance in late 2027.

“They already fly to Honolulu, LAX and San Francisco, they’re going to start flying to Seattle soon, so partnerships like that make a lot of sense.”

How the status tiers stack up

Hawaiian Airlines shares the same Atmos Rewards program as its parent Alaska Airlines, with the following Oneworld tier alignments:

• Oneworld Ruby = Atmos Silver
• Oneworld Sapphire = Atmos Gold
• Oneworld Emerald = Atmos Platinum and Atmos Titanium

The highest Atmos Rewards tiers align with Oneworld Emerald.

Reciprocal status recognition delivers perks such as lounge access, a boosted checked luggage allowance, free seat selection, priority boarding and other benefits, in line with a passenger’s Oneworld tier.

On the roadmap: opening a spacious new flagship lounge at Honolulu Airport Terminal 1 by the end of 2027, and upgrading its workhorse Airbus A330 jets with new business class suites and premium economy recliners from 2028.

Hawaiian's current two-abreast A330 business class is moving to 1-2-1 suites.

There’s also a new uniform incoming.

Birkett Rakow says this will be designed in a unique collaboration by “Luly Yang, who did the Alaska Airlines uniform – she’s out of Seattle but actually spends a lot of her time in Hawaii – and Sig Zane, who’s based here, over in Hilo.”

Also read: Hawaiian Airlines locks in A330 business class suites

David Flynn travelled to Honolulu as a guest of Hawaiian Airlines and Oneworld.