Alaska Airlines’ unexpected move to buy out Hawaiian Airlines in a US$1.9b deal could potentially also bring Hawaiian into the Oneworld fold. Pending approval by the US government, the merger of the Seattle- and Honolulu-based carriers would likely be in place by mid-2025. The airlines would retain their individual brands and hubs, although“supported by a single, compelling loyalty offering” – in other words, Alaska’s own Mileage Plan frequent flyer scheme will likely replace the HawaiianMiles platform (unless an all-new program is on the cards). Hawaiian Airlines says the status and miles held by HawaiianMiles members will be transferred to Mileage Plan, including matching its Pualani Elite Gold and Platinum members to Alaska’s equivalent MVP Gold tiers. This alone would provide Hawaiian Airlines’ frequent flyers “the ability to earn and redeem miles on 29 global partners and receive elite benefits on the full complement of Oneworld alliance airlines (and) expanded global lounge access,” the airlines said in a joint statement when the merger was announced in December 2023. But Alaska Airlines could well take the next logical step and make Hawaiian Airlines a member of the Oneworld alliance. Ironically, Alaska is the newest Oneworld member, having joined in March 2021. Oman Air is due to join Oneworld in the second half of this year, swelling the ranks to 14 airlines; could 15 become Oneworld’s lucky number in 2025?<br/>
oneworld
An Alaska Airlines passenger accused of attacking another traveler with pens wrapped in rubber bands in late January has been charged in federal court with assault with a dangerous weapon, according to court documents filed in the US District Court of Nevada on Wednesday. Julio Alvarez Lopez, who was on board an early morning flight from Seattle to Las Vegas with 105 other passengers, was restrained by the flight crew, court records said. After the plane landed, he was arrested by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Lopez is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Las Vegas on March 1, court documents said. About a half hour before landing, prosecutors allege, Lopez got up to use the restroom and “began punching and hitting the victim” when he returned. The other passenger, who was seated across the aisle from Lopez, is a sworn law enforcement officer, court documents say. Then Lopez moved up the aisle towards the front of the plane, court documents said, screaming “I’ll only talk to the FBI.” The other passenger told Lopez to sit down, and Lopez took an empty seat before he was restrained, according to court records. Lopez told law enforcement that he thought the other passenger was following him and believed he was a cartel member who intended to kill him, according to court documents. He also said that he felt the mafia had been chasing him for months, court documents said. One witness described Lopez as “fidgety” and said he was putting on and taking off gloves during the flight, court documents said.<br/>
An ex-navy officer involved in the original search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 has criticised the Australian agency leading the investigation, saying it should not have been placed in charge of the operation. After the flight, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, disappeared in the Indian Ocean on March 8 2014, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) led an underwater search for the plane from May 2014 until the operation was suspended in January 2017. Working as the deputy operations manager, Peter Waring said the search was beyond the ATSB’s capabilities. “The Australian government made a fundamental mistake in assuming a transportation investigation authority could run a search, and not just any search but the largest search in human history,” he told Channel 9’s 60 Minutes on Sunday. “I think that comes back to just the fundamental problem, which was that the ATSB, despite being full of well-intentioned people … it was not the right agency to be running the search.” According to Mr Waring, it’s likely the original search parameters were outside of where the plane descended. This is based on the theory that someone was still control the plane when it crashed into the ocean, and. “If there’s someone at the controls all the way to the end, then the search area is very, very different than the one we actually looked at,” he said. “That scenario, I don’t believe, has ever adequately been considered (and it) certainly wasn’t by the Australian government.”<br/>