New Hawaiian Airlines CEO Joe Sprague will lead the company as the carrier and its assets become part of Alaska Air Group, which completed its purchase of Hawaiian for $1 billion last week. Alaska is also assuming about $900 million in Hawaiian debt.
Sprague has led Hawaiʻi and Pacific operations for Alaska and will remain CEO until the Federal Aviation Administration issues a single operating certificate. Ben Minicucci is the head of Seattle-based Alaska Airlines.
Speaking to The Conversation, Sprague said he has been an aviation geek his entire life. Originally from Wyoming, he and his family moved around and eventually ended up in Alaska, where he decided to put down roots.
"He's somebody that, you know, proud dad to two grown kids and trying to be a good husband to my wife, and then somebody that is just thrilled and feels very honored to be part of this historic combination between Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines," Sprague said about himself.
The Hawaiian-Alaska deal will reportedly preserve thousands of union jobs. Sprague said 80% or so of the entire 7,400-person workforce at Hawaiian Airlines are frontline, union-represented positions.
The 1,400 nonunion employees are meeting with Sprague over the next two weeks to learn their next steps.
"There is some duplication with similar roles at Alaska, and so we've spent a lot of time carefully assessing what will the go-forward organization look like as we're combining the two airlines," he said. "What we've determined is that we're going to need many of the non-contract folks that are here in Hawaiʻi, in fact, the vast majority of those 1,400 will be receiving some form of offer to continue forward with the company."
Sprague said those employees will receive offers for either a permanent, long-term position or an interim offer for at least 12 months or longer. Those who will be losing their jobs will not be asked to leave right away, he said, adding that all employees will be paid through the end of the year.
"Everyone will be asked to stay at least 90 days. For those folks that will not have an offer beyond that point, we're providing a retention package, a severance package separately, and also careful job planning, career planning, support services from a local, Honolulu-based firm," he added.
Alaska has said it will keep Hawaiian as a separate brand. Sprague said Alaska plans to still offer the beloved passion orange guava juice to passengers on board — one of the most frequently asked questions.
"The Hawaiian Airlines brand is so strong. It evokes a really positive emotional response in people," he said. "[POG juice] seems like a small thing, but we recognize that people have a connection to that, and that's one of the ways they view the brand of Hawaiian Airlines in a positive way. Other local partners, we absolutely will continue to maintain ties to."
He said that Alaska and Hawaiian have similarities as both have been in service for over 90 years and serve remote communities reliant on air travel.
"So that means that all those other communities that Alaska is flying to, they're either on islands, actual islands, or they're virtual islands because they're in these very remote locations," Sprague said. "That sort of ethos around serving communities that rely on us, it gives both companies, I think, a very special sense of purpose, and that's a positive and really powerful, I think, uniting factor for the two carriers."
He said Alaska Airlines is committed to providing services to those remote locations.
As the transition continues, Sprague said Alaska is working toward a single "passenger service system" for operations across both carriers.
"That process will take probably a year or a little longer in order to do that. Then once we're all on the same system, then we can harmonize everything from airport check-in practices to the technology that customers have on their mobile apps and on the website, and that will also then impact the call centers, or the reservation centers, that customers call when they need assistance with a booking or a change to a reservation, etc.," Sprague said.
Hawaiian Airlines customers will soon be able to use earned miles on Alaska Airlines — and vice versa. A new program called Huakaʻi will offer Hawaiʻi residents a quarterly 10% discount and one free checked bag on interisland flights.
Sprague noted the passion that Hawaiian Airlines employees have for the company.
"To have that level of commitment and dedication to this airline, it really says something about the passion and the high regard that even the employees have for the company, and I think that's a beautiful thing, and we want to maintain that as we move forward," he added.
Sprague said he felt an affinity for Hawaiian Airlines even before the deal came to be, and has always admired the company.
He shared with employees that he used to play with a toy airport set as a kid, but he didn't have a jet, only tiny prop planes. Eventually, he found his first toy jet — a Hawaiian Airlines DC-9 plane.
"That was my first airline jet in my little airport world that I played with for hours and hours. And so there was, in my mind, a connection to Hawaiian Airlines for a number of years. And then years later when I had a chance to fly on Hawaiian Airlines for the first time was with my wife and my then-baby son, and we had just a fantastic experience," Sprague said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Sept. 23, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
