Hawaiian to Inherit Alaska Airlines 737-800s for Inter-island Flying

The future of inter-island flying in Hawaii is the 737-800. Alaska Airlines announced its plan to replace the 717 fleet with 737-800s carrying the Hawaiian brand as part of the company’s longer term integration plans for the merged carriers.

A sub-fleet of the type will be based at Honolulu and operated by pilots and flight attendants based in the islands. The full transition aims to begin in 2028 “and move quickly to bring this additional capacity and enhanced experience to our guests.”

The 737-800 gives us a proven, capable platform for the next chapter of Neighbor Island flying. It is well suited to the operational needs of the Islands and gives our teams a clear path to transition from the 717s while continuing to deliver the reliable service our guests expect.

– Jim Landers, Head of Hawai’i Operations

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While the larger transition effort remains a couple years away, one 737-800 will move out to the islands in October 2026, operating three round trips daily between Honolulu (HNL) and Kahului (OGG). This move is pitched by the airline as necessary to “sustain frequency and capacity and meet the needs of Hawai’i’s communities in the near-term.” This plane will still carry the Alaska branding and crew.

The group also recognizes the challenges of interisland flights, including higher frequencies and shorter flights, operating in a salt-air environment. It expects the durability of the 737s bring “airframes and engines that can withstand the high cycles of Neighbor Island operations.”

The planes will maintain most of the cabin amenities currently flying, including the larger first class and Premium Class cabins, in-seat power, and Starlink in-flight internet service.

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Major Capacity Shift?

The move puts to rest, at least for a little while, speculation about the company’s fleet planning. The carrier currently has 61 737-800s in its fleet, ranging from 15-22 years old. That’s plenty of capacity and lifespan to cover needs for the foreseeable future. And likely comes as a disappointment to both Embraer and Airbus who were hoping to slot their aircraft (E195-E2 or A220, respectively) into the island operations. It may not be a new order for Boeing, but it is certainly a major win for the manufacturer.

The Embraer or Airbus options would be much closer in size to the existing 717 fleet being replaced. Hawaiian currently runs interisland ops with 128 seats per departure. The 737-800s are significantly larger, flying 161 seats. How that increased capacity impacts operations and pricing will be worth watching. The company indicated it plans “to maintain capacity to meet demand with a full schedule of frequent departures from morning to evening,” though details on what that means are still at least a year away.

Between the collapse of Aloha (2008) and the arrival of Southwest Airlines (2019), Hawaiian dominated the inter-island market, typically flying more than 80% of the seats in the region. Even with Southwest’s arrival Hawaiian remained above 60% over the past six years. If it transitions the 717s to 737s on a 1:1 basis that’s likely worth about a 25% boost in the total seats flying in the islands and a 5-7% boost in Hawaiian’s share of seats.