Alaska Air to Replace Hawaiian's 717s with 737-800s, Boosting Neighbor Island Capacity
ALK sits 32% above its 52-week low of $33.03.
Summary
Alaska Air Group announced it will replace Hawaiian Airlines' aging Boeing 717 fleet with modern 737-800s for Neighbor Island flying, starting the transition in 2028. The move adds significant capacity and a premium cabin with twice the First Class seats, Starlink Wi-Fi, and Recaro leather seats. In the near term, one Alaska-branded 737 will begin supplementing 717 service between Honolulu and Kahului this October. This is a concrete step in the Alaska Accelerate plan to invest in the Hawaiian brand and improve the guest experience, following the combination of the two airlines. The fleet upgrade addresses operational reliability concerns with the retiring 717s and positions the combined carrier to capture more high-yield traffic in the Hawaiian market.
At the time of this announcement, ALK was trading at $43.75 on NYSE in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.1B. The 52-week trading range was $33.03 to $65.88. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: PR Newswire.