A Game at which Two can Fly

After Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion, you might think — given conventional wisdom and previous airline mergers like United absorbing the Continental brand or American Airlines doing the same with US Airways — that Alaska would take over the Hawaiian brand to more clearly establish itself as the fifth-largest airline in the U.S.. However, the equity Hawaiian has is not lost on Alaska and they are embarking on a new, “one airline, two brands” strategy that, operationally will act as one internally but as two externally. Given the positive track record of both airlines, this sounds like a winning strategy that not many other airlines (what’s left of them) could pull off.