In December 2023, Alaska Airlines announced its intention of taking over Hawaiian Airlines. The latter joining Oneworld Alliance was a logical consequence and pondered at the time.
Said takeover has since been approved and completed. Yesterday, further news broke about the Honolulu based carrier joining Oneworld alliance. While neither Alaska Airlines nor Hawaiian made any official statement, Australian Oneworld member Qantas edited its text concerning airline partners on its website. In the short Paragraph about Hawaiian, the airline mentions a concrete and fairly realistic date: April 22, 2026 – instead of merely naming the year.
From 22 April 2026, Hawaiian Airlines also officially joins the oneworld alliance. If you’re a Qantas Frequent Flyer, you’ll be able to enjoy the full range of oneworld benefits when travelling on both Hawaiian Airlines or Alaska Airlines with a Qantas or Alaska Airlines flight number.
Hawaiian Airlines | qantas.com
To be honest, the paragraph in question is not entirely new. It has been online for roughly two months. However, it only gained public attention recently, because Twitter X-Account JonNYC (known as a reliable source for aviation news) posted about it. Like many other blogs, we were unaware of the (unofficial) announcement for quite a while. Because this means great news for people booked on Hawaiian flights past that date, we decided to write a news piece, nonetheless.
From April 22 onward, Oneworld status holders can enjoy perks like lounge access, priority services and additional baggage allowances on Hawaiian Airlines flights. Reciprocal, if you are flying with a different Oneworld member like American, Japan Airlines or Qantas from Honolulu, you can access the Hawaiian Airlines lounge at the airport. While we cannot preview the exact rules for frequent flyers yet, we will keep you updated. Without a two-month delay.
Editor’s Note: This is excellent news for Oneworld status holders, as their tier will be recognized by a growing number of carriers. If you hold Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status, Hawaiian Airlines tickets past May now deserve a closer look. Beyond that, the alliance continues to grow at a remarkable pace, welcoming its third new member (Fiji Airways in April and Oman Air in June 2025) within twelve months.
Thanks to our source, One Mile at a Time!
Translated by Felix
Cover Picture: A Hawaiian Airlines plane flying over Hawaii | © Hawaiian Airlines