Alaska and Hawaii Merger: Good News for Traveling Anglers?
Late in 2023, Alaska Airlines, one of our favorite carriers (it just so happens that they have the most routes to one of our favorite places), acquired Hawaiian Airlines for the princely sum of $1.9 billion. So whether you’re headed to Bristol Bay to chase trout and salmon, or to Kona looking for a grander marlin, if you’re somehow aligned with one of those airlines or the other, you likely now have more options.
Lots of pundits in the aviation space with more knowledge than us have analyzed the grand meaning of the transaction. Here are some examples:
Analysis: Winners and Losers From Alaska Airlines' Acquisition Of Hawaiian Airlines
What the Alaska-Hawaiian Airlines Merger Could Mean for Travelers
Alaska Air beat the odds and is now reaching across the Pacific
There’s a hidden benefit to Alaska Airlines buying Hawaiian Airlines, and you’ll love it
The deal still needs to pass antitrust scrutiny, so it’s not a certainty, but it seems that the biggest benefit will be the addition of Hawaiian Airlines frequent flyers to the Oneworld Alliance, joining them up not only with Alaska and American, but also with other airlines that may appeal to anglers. For example, they’re now aligned with Japan Airlines, if you’re headed to Lake Biwa; Qantas if you’re headed to Australia; Qatar Airways, which we used to go to Africa; and Fiji Air for anglers headed to the South Pacific. Elite flyers on all of those airlines, plus several others, will now have more options and potentially better status when they head to Hawaii, too. Since we’ve historically used American a lot, particularly for our flights to Mexico, we’re excited by this addition. And, of course, those who live in Hawaii now have more reason to head places like Alaska, Mexico, and so on.
As a reminder, Alaska Airlines is one of the most sportsman-friendly carriers. For obvious reasons they are used to transporting oddly-shaped sporting goods, insulated boxes of frozen fish and so on. Indeed, their continuing success depends on catering to such a crowd.
We’ve yet to fly Hawaiian Airlines on a fishing trip. They are of course extremely used to transporting surfboards, wake boards, paddle boards and so on, and they have an extensive Q&A reflecting those considerations. They also have a solid primer on traveling with scuba equipment.
Their fishing equipment policy isn’t quite as extensive, but it generally mirrors that of Alaska and many other airlines: “Fishing equipment will be accepted as checked baggage subject to the baggage conditions and fees set forth in Sections (A) and (B) of this Rule 18. We will accept fishing poles up to 115 inches (292 cm) in length on any Hawaiian operated flight as a Standard Bag, subject to any overweight baggage fees, provided they are contained in a PVC, cardboard, or hardcovered case.”
Be careful if you will be hopping from island to island with odd-shaped or “oversized” sporting luggage as you may rack up fees each time you move.
Remember that in addition to big marlin and ulua (AKA, Giant Trevally), several of the Hawaiian islands have freshwater fishing for largemouth, smallmouth and peacock bass.
