United Airlines restored its Los Angeles to Shanghai nonstop service on Thursday, becoming the only U.S. carrier to fly the route.
30.08.2024 - 01:35 / skift.com / Hawaiian Airlines / United Airlines / Peter Ingram / Meghna Maharishi
United Airlines raised concerns to the Department of Transportation about how an Alaska-Hawaiian merger could impact its relationship with Hawaiian Airlines.
Robert Rivkin, United’s chief legal officer, spoke with DOT deputy general counsel Brian Stansbury about these concerns on August 27, according to a government filing that was posted on Thursday. United has interline, codeshare, pricing strategy and loyalty agreements with Hawaiian. The memo didn’t go into more detail about United’s concerns.
The DOT is currently reviewing the proposed merger after the Justice Department ended its regulatory review on August 20. If Alaska-Hawaiian clears the DOT review, then the merger will be allowed to proceed.
The merger has been widely viewed as a lifeline for Hawaiian, which has dealt with declining revenues since the pandemic. A lack of inbound Japanese tourism to Hawaii — a key market for the airline — and a slow recovery in tourism to Maui since last year’s wildfires have hurt Hawaiian’s bottom line.
An Alaska-Hawaiian merger would create the fifth largest airline in the U.S. and give Alaska greater access to Hawaii, along with Asia, potentially.
United did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci previously said he envisioned a loyalty program for the combined airline that would operate like Marriott Bonvoy.
“So think of something like Marriott Bonvoy, right? You’re part of Marriott Bonvoy, but you could stay in different hotels right under this house of brands. So that’s how we’re thinking about it,” he said when the merger was first announced December 3.
Minicucci and Hawaiian CEO Peter Ingram said in December they wanted to keep the Alaska and Hawaiian brands separate while under the same loyalty program due to each carrier’s local culture and history. Ingram said the benefits for Hawaiian’s loyalty program would stay the same until the merger closes.
“The one biggest question I have is Ben, ‘how are you gonna do a dual brand under a single platform?’” Minicucci said. “And I just say there is no other choice. We will figure it out because we need to respect the culture and the legacy that’s been created here for over 94 years.”
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United Airlines restored its Los Angeles to Shanghai nonstop service on Thursday, becoming the only U.S. carrier to fly the route.
Last Oct. 10, my wife, a friend and I arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport to fly to Paris on a trip we had originally planned for April but had to postpone. At the United Airlines check-in counter, agents told us our reservation had been canceled — by us! Even weirder, the same thing had happened three weeks earlier, when the airline sent us an email saying we had canceled our trip. That time, we called and insisted United reissue the reservation for the same price, which it did by giving us a travel voucher and instantly redeeming it. At the airport, though, we watched as supervisors got their supervisors involved, and we were eventually told that something about the voucher had raised questions about fraud. We missed our flight and bought last-minute tickets for that evening’s 11 p.m. United flight to Paris. Then flight was canceled, though this time for everyone. Given the day’s stress and frustration, we gave up on the trip, had dinner and went to the airport Marriott before heading home the next morning. We believe United owes us for the cost of the last-minute flight ($4,475), a portion of the earlier canceled flight ($3,099), the cost of our transportation, hotel and meals that day ($1,178) and the money we lost on nonrefundable plans in France ($2,007). Can you help?
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