The 11 months since Diana Birkett Rakow has taken the controls at Hawaiian Airlines has been full of change for the carrier.
Formerly the senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airlines, she was named CEO of Hawaiian in September 2025 and stepped into the role on Oct. 29, 2025.
Her appointment came nearly two years after Alaska Air Group Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. announced in December 2023 that Alaska Airlines would acquire Hawaiian Airlines in a deal that was valued at approximately $1.9 billion, including $900 million of Hawaiian’s net debt, according to an announcement at that time. The acquisition was completed in September 2024.
As she approaches the one-year mark in the role, Birkett Rakow says that one of the biggest challenges has been “just navigating through the volume of change.”
“The flip side of that is that I think people have, certainly our teams have, just navigated through a lot of change with a ton of resilience and grace,” she told Aloha State Daily during a recent interview at Hawaiian Airlines' Honolulu headquarters. “And I appreciate our guests going on that journey with us and it’s really satisfying to get to a place where there is more seamlessness in the experience; there is more stability. It’s a dynamic industry and a dynamic world, so there’s always going to be continued change, but we have the opportunity now with the full-value proposition after our reservation systems came together, full-value proposition for our guests to really make sure that people understand that, appreciate it and are bringing more of their travel into our ecosystem.”
In the last year:
Birkett Rakow started in the CEO role the same day that Alaska Airlines received a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, a major milestone in the efforts to integrate the operations of the two airlines.
(ICYMI: Hawaiian and Alaska also launched a joint loyalty program called Atmos Rewards weeks before she stepped into the role, another milestone in the combination).
At the start of the 2026, Hawaiian Airlines and state officials announced the Kahu‘ewai Hawai‘i Investment Plan, which includes investments of more than $600 million over five years “to modernize airport spaces, aircraft cabins and technology for both guests and employees, expanding loyalty benefits for Hawai‘i residents and continuing our deep investment in community and sustainability statewide,” Birkett Rakow said at that time.
The airlines launched a unified Alaska Hawaiian mobile app around the same time they transitioned to a single passenger service system on April 22. Hawaiian also joined oneworld alliance, a global airline network that connects the Islands to destinations around the world.
In March, Chef Dell Valdez was tapped as Hawaiian's new executive chef, bringing his "modern interpretation of Hawaiʻi’s diverse culinary identity to the airline’s First Class dining program while continuing to oversee the airline’s Featured Chef Series," an announcement at that time noted.
The airline also did away with complimentary meals in the main cabin of most domestic flights this summer, instead launching a pre-order dining program with a menu curated by Maui-based chef Sheldon Simeon.
Just this week, Alaska Air Group unveiled plans to invest in the premium travel experience for both the Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines brands.
For Hawaiian, that means new interiors for its A330 widebody aircraft, a fleet of 24 that serves destinations in Asia, Oceania and select North America routes, a recent announcement from the airline noted. That work begins in 2028 and includes 22 Leihōkū Suites for travelers on international business class and domestic first-class flights, the announcement says. The updates are part of the Kahu‘ewai investment plan.
As part of broader investments in core guest experiences, Alaska Air Group also will introduce premium reserve, a new premium economy cabin that debuts in 2028 on Alaska's 787-9, 787-10 and select 737-10 MAX aircraft, and on Hawaiian’s A330 fleet, “providing guests with more room, comfort and choice on longer flights,” the announcement notes.
You can read more about those changes here.
In addition to the recent changes, Birkett Rakow says that particularly stormy year — with the Kona Low storms in March and a hurricane season that has brought storm-related damage and destruction to the Islands — has also been a challenge, not only for the airline, but for the community and the tourism industry.
“The flip side of that is it prompts good conversations about how do we continue to make this industry as resilient as it needs to be to power local jobs in the economy and support broader economic diversification and community," she says.
The April move to a single passenger service system, which the airlines noted at the time serves as the central reservation technology that connects the digital tools and programs used by guests and employees, was one of four major integration milestones that also included the launch of Atmos Rewards; the receipt of a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration; and joint collective bargaining agreements for the airlines’ various unions.
“From a guest perspective, that was really the big unlock for people to experience us as one airline with two strong brands and a combined loyalty program,” Birkett Rakow says. “The integration went really smoothly and it’s been sort of great to hear people’s relief that they don’t have two confirmation codes; the system works really well.”
The combined labor contacts is the remaining key milestone in the Hawaiian and Alaska combination, she says, noting that’s “more of an employee-facing milestone, but it is one that we’re working toward with negotiations with all of our labor groups.”
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
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