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Hawaiian Airlines is the oldest U.S. carrier in continuous service, tracing its roots to Inter-Island Airways in 1929. It is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, and has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group since September 18, 2024, when Alaska Airlines completed its $1.9 billion acquisition. Hawaiian operates approximately 65 mainline aircraft across inter-island, domestic mainland, and transpacific international routes, and employs approximately 1,176 active pilots. Joe Sprague currently serves as Hawaiian Airlines CEO, overseeing operations under the Alaska Air Group umbrella.
For interview purposes, the simplest way to frame Hawaiian is this: it is a unique carrier defined by its geography, its culture, and its fleet diversity. Hawaiian is the only U.S. airline that operates inter-island service connecting the Hawaiian Islands, flies widebody transpacific routes to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and maintains a cargo freighter operation — all from a single island hub. Now, as part of Alaska Air Group, Hawaiian's pilots are navigating a merger integration that will reshape their careers, with seniority integration, a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement, and new career paths (including transatlantic 787 flying from Seattle) in the works.
Hawaiian Airlines retains its separate brand identity under Alaska Air Group. The "spirit of aloha" is not just a marketing phrase — it is deeply embedded in the airline's culture, operations, and identity in a way that is unlike any other U.S. carrier.
Hawaiian Airlines is the oldest continuously operating airline in the United States. Inter-Island Airways, Ltd. was incorporated on January 30, 1929, as a subsidiary of Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company. Under the leadership of Stanley C. Kennedy — a World War I Navy pilot who convinced the steamship company's directors to start an airline — operations began on October 6, 1929 with sightseeing flights over Oahu in a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker. Scheduled inter-island service began a month later on November 11, 1929, using Sikorsky S-38 amphibian aircraft connecting Honolulu to Hilo via Molokai and Maui.
The airline became Hawaiian Airlines on October 1, 1941, as it retired its flying boats and transitioned to land-based aircraft. For decades, Hawaiian was primarily an inter-island carrier. Long-haul international and mainland service grew gradually through the latter half of the 20th century.
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Hawaiian Airlines' model is defined by its unique geographic position:
The cargo operation is notable: Hawaiian operates A330-300P2F freighters under contract with Amazon Prime Air, connecting Hawaii to the mainland. This is a meaningful revenue diversifier.
Now part of Alaska Air Group: Hawaiian operates under its own brand but shares a single operating certificate with Alaska Airlines. The combined carrier is a member of oneworld alliance through Alaska's membership.
Sources listed at the end of each profile. Data compiled from public filings, airline newsrooms, AirlinePilotCentral, Glassdoor, FAA records, and industry publications.