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The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to issue a single operating certificate to Alaska Airlines on Wednesday — a pivotal step in its merger with Hawaiian Airlines, which will mark the milestone with the appointment of a new CEO and several other major transitions to its Honolulu-based leadership team. Diana Birkett Rakow, who is currently serving as Alaska Airlines’ executive vice president of public affairs and sustainability, will become on Wednesday the first woman to serve as CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. She replaces Joe Sprague, who became CEO of Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024, and is retiring but will remain on Hawaiian Airlines’ board. Jim Landers will head Hawaii operations, and Shelly Parker will oversee guest operations. The certificate allows Alaska and Hawaiian to operate as separate brands under one system, part of a broader integration plan following Alaska’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Holdings in September 2024. Sprague said Alaska’s leadership chose to retain a full regional headquarters in Honolulu, including a CEO role, to reinforce its commitment to the Hawaiian brand. “When we say ‘The brand is here to stay,’… we are putting actual action behind that commitment.” Both Sprague and Birkett Rakow emphasized that the Hawaiian brand is deeply rooted in local identity, values like travel pono, and community care — causing Alaska to treat it distinctly different than from previous integrations with Horizon and Virgin America. What’s next? The single operating certificate, a major FAA regulatory requirement, was achieved in just over a year and marks the integration of training, policies, procedures and manuals across both airlines. It also allows Alaska to move forward with other ongoing integration initiatives, including combining scheduling and passenger service systems for the carriers, as well as integrating flight crew, airport and maintenance teams for both carriers under joint collective bargaining agreements With the issuance of the single operating certificate, Alaska and Hawaiian airlines pilots and dispatchers will use a single call sign —AS —behind the scenes to communicate with air traffic control. Hawaiian Airlines flights will still show the HA designator; however, Hawaiian’s frequent flyers should note that while Hawaiian has attempted to maintain similar flight numbers, in many cases, it has assigned completely new flight numbers to avoid duplication between the brands. Hawaiian is targeting April 22 to complete integration of its passenger service system. As of last week, all new bookings for flights after that date are being made on the shared system. “Employees will be able to serve and support (customers) regardless of where your ticket was booked,” Birkett Rakow said. She added that Atmos Rewards, the combined loyalty program, kicked off Oct. 1. New credit card sign-ups surpassed the year-end goal within a matter of weeks. Birkett Rakow said in the spring that Hawaiian Airlines will become part of the oneworld Alliance, which provides more seamless access to a full suite of global airline partners. Since the merger, Hawaiian has eliminated hundreds of non-contract jobs, including 252 Hawaii-based roles announced in July, and 42 announced three months after the merger, and 31 at the six-month mark. However, union hiring has driven a net increase of 646 Hawaii-based employees over the past year, according to spokesperson Alex Da Silva. Hawaiian now employs 7,300 people systemwide, with nearly 6,600 based in Hawaii. No further workforce reductions are planned for 2025, though some roles may be phased out next year as integration milestones are met. Sprague said joint labor contracts for pilots, flight attendants, maintenance technicians, airport agents and dispatchers must be renegotiated to reflect the new operating structure. Existing contracts remain in effect until new agreements are reached. Sustainability Alaska Air Group aims to generate $1 billion in incremental profit from the Hawaiian acquisition by 2027 under its “Alaska Accelerate” strategy. Hawaiian posted a $1 million pretax profit in the second quarter — its first since 2019. But pretax expenses to operate Hawaiian exceeded revenue by $42 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, and contributed to reduced income for Alaska Air Group, which reported a $73 million profit in the quarter that compared with a year-earlier profit of $236 million. Aviation historian Peter Forman said the second- quarter results showed that Alaska’s strategy is possible, but that challenges remain. He said leisure travel should improve as the economy improves, and the move to a single operating certificate will allow the carriers to maximize profits by becoming more flexible and more efficient. Forman said that Alaska achieving the certificate within 13 months shows “just how on top of their game that they are. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, but they managed to put it together in as short a time as they could.” But sustainability is about more than profits for the combined carriers. Sprague said Birkett Rakow is an industry expert in sustainability and her selection to lead the Honolulu team, while continuing to oversee Alaska’s sustainability efforts, reflects that Alaska is listening to the Hawaii community and understands its values. During the past eight years at Alaska, Birkett Rakow has led the company’s sustainability and corporate impact efforts, government affairs, communications, and community and cultural relations. She also has had oversight of sales and customer engagement in Hawaii and Alaska, and the airline’s venture investment arm, Alaska Star Ventures. Prior to joining Alaska, Birkett Rakow held senior executive roles at Group Health and Kaiser Permanente, and as a health policy adviser for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. She said, “The reality is that sustainability is all about long-term viability and resilience and that’s what we are trying to create here with the combination of our airlines to make sure that we are here for the long term to take care of our communities and meet people’s needs.” Birkett Rakow said Hawaiian and Alaska have moved to a shared strategy for net zero carbon emissions in 2040 and next year plan to publish shared sustainability goals for 2030. “We are keeping the commitment to regenerative tourism and local sourcing that Hawaiian Airlines has had so that can continue into the future,” she said. “I think we have a lot to learn from a place like Hawaii that experiences and relies on the land and natural resources so significantly … and recognizes that those things are fragile and we need to work to protect them.”
