Alaska Air Group, the parent of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, has had a rough year in Hawaii and is saying so out loud. It is also saying it is not going anywhere: Honolulu stays one of its main hubs, and the company is putting more than $600 million into the islands. We fly to Waikiki twice a year and stay for weeks, so our first question was the boring one. Does any of this change what a mainland traveler pays, or when to book? Mostly, no.
What happened
On October 20, 2026, Alaska Air Group reported its third-quarter 2026 results. Revenue rose 14% year over year to $4.3 billion, and the release says that growth came “despite Hawaiʻi headwinds.” The company also posted a GAAP net loss of $147 million for the quarter and pointed to fuel: it now expects $1.8 billion in fuel expense above its plan for 2026.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported on October 28 that on the earnings call, executives called Hawaii one of the weakest-performing parts of the network this year, and named three reasons: weather disruptions, excess industry capacity, and merger integration. In Honolulu, the tone was the opposite. Shane Tackett, Alaska Airlines’ president and CFO, told the paper on Monday, October 26, ahead of an open house at Hawaiian’s Honolulu headquarters, “We never said nor will we say that we were pulling any of our focus from Hawaii.” Hawaiian CEO Diana Birkett Rakow added, “We’re bullish.”
The money behind that is the company’s Kahuʻewai Hawaiʻi Investment Plan, which an October 26 company release puts at more than $600 million for airport spaces, technology and Hawaiian aircraft interiors. Construction on a new Hawaiian Airlines Lounge at the entrance of Honolulu airport’s Mauka Concourse started this month.
What it changes for a Waikiki stay
Here is what is on the calendar, and who it is for. Dates are as the sources state them, checked October 29, 2026.
| What | When | Who it helps | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hawaiian Airlines Lounge at HNL, nearly 13,000 sq ft, about 200 guests | First half of 2028 | Lounge-eligible travelers leaving Honolulu | Company release, Oct. 26 |
| Premium security bypass at HNL: dedicated check-in area, faster access to TSA screening | 2027 | Premium travelers, going by the name; eligibility not detailed | Star-Advertiser |
| Atmos Rewards debit card | Early 2027 | Members who want to earn without a credit card | Q3 release |
| Choose to earn Atmos points by distance, price paid, or segments | Flights departing on or after Jan. 1, 2027 | Atmos members | Q3 release |
| Two free checked bags on Neighbor Island flights | Already launched | Huakaʻi by Hawaiian members, a program for Hawaii residents | Q3 release |
| Starlink Wi-Fi | Not dated in the article | All travelers, per the Star-Advertiser | Star-Advertiser |
| Main-cabin pre-order menu, including dishes by chef Sheldon Simeon, $10.99 to $16.99 per item | Since July 1, 2026 | Main-cabin travelers on most mainland-Hawaii flights who buy ahead (meals are for purchase) | Hawaiian release, May 28 |
What is not on the list matters just as much. Neither the Q3 release nor the lounge release cuts a Hawaii route or announces new mainland-to-Honolulu flights. Nothing names a fare. The most direct thing anyone said about prices came from Tackett, who told the Star-Advertiser that premium-cabin passengers paying more “does allow us to do what Diana was talking about, which is maintaining really competitive and high-value pricing in the main cabin.” That is a stated intention, not a fare chart.
The one line we would actually watch is the outlook. The Star-Advertiser reports that executives expect Hawaii to improve next year as integration winds down, weather disruptions ease, and industry capacity moderates. Excess seats were one of the reasons they gave for the weak year. Our own reading, not anything the company said: when an airline hopes the number of seats to Hawaii stops growing so fast, it is not planning a year of cheaper fares for us. Across the whole airline, the Q3 release also says September yield, roughly what passengers paid per mile, was up about 17% from a year earlier.
What we would do
If we were booking a mainland flight to Honolulu, we would book it exactly the way we would have last month: when the price and the schedule work, and not a day later hoping that a “weak market” headline turns into a sale. A weak year for the airline came with a public promise to keep Honolulu a main hub, not with a fare war. And with fuel still costing the company far more than planned, we would not bet a winter trip on prices falling.
We would also not pay more today for anything on that table. The lounge is a 2028 thing, the security bypass is 2027 and aimed at premium passengers, and the debit card is early 2027. Hawaiian is not the airline we usually fly in the first place. Our flight money goes into days on the ground, which is the same reason a lie-flat suite years from now did not move us either.
The part of a Honolulu trip that costs us effort is the last morning: getting to HNL, checking bags, standing in the security line. If you do fly Hawaiian or Alaska in a premium cabin out of Honolulu in 2027, the security bypass is the piece to keep an eye on, because that is the line that wears people out. For main-cabin travelers, the useful changes are already the dull ones. If you are flying Hawaiian internationally from HNL, check-in has already moved to Terminal 2, Lobby 4.
If you are an Atmos member, the earning choice for 2027 flights is worth ten minutes before the year turns. Long routes on cheap fares and premium tickets reward different options. We have not run the numbers on anyone’s trips, so do it with your own recent tickets.
Before you plan around this
- “Weakest-performing” and the three reasons come from the Star-Advertiser’s account of the earnings call. The company’s own release uses the softer “Hawaiʻi headwinds.”
- The 2027 security bypass, the Starlink detail, and the outlook for next year come from interviews in the Star-Advertiser, not from a company release we could read. Treat the timing as a plan.
- The lounge timing (first half of 2028) and the size are from the company. Construction schedules slip.
- Nothing here is a fare. Check current prices on alaskaair.com or hawaiianairlines.com, and re-check the Alaska newsroom for route changes before you book.
Checked October 29, 2026. Plans like these change, usually in the direction of later.
This is our reading of airline announcements as of October 2026, not financial advice; verify current fares, routes and loyalty terms with Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Atmos Rewards before you book.
