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Graduating from a single-aisle fleet to a global widebody operator has historically proven to be an excruciating and near-fatal ordeal for western airlines.
The last all-Boeing 737 mainline operator to attempt an expansion into a long-haul international airline was Canada’s WestJet. It nearly tipped the carrier over as it inducted used 767s then new 787-9s over three years at a time when it was roiled by the pandemic, labor strife, changing ownership and the reabsorption of its subsidiary, Swoop. Norwegian Air Shuttle attempted a similar organic graduation to global carrier through rapid 787 deliveries, paired with an arm’s-length and dis-integrated strategic model that resulted in its eventual bankruptcy and dissolution of its long-haul fleet.
Related: Alaska Airlines, finally all-Boeing, ventures beyond the recovery
Alaska Air Group (AAG), which has begun the next major phase of its Hawaiian Airlines merger integration with the announcement of Seattle as its new global gateway, is out to prove itself as an historical aberration. The key difference, Alaska hopes, is that its $1.9 billion purchase of Hawaiian gives it an insta-fleet of widebody jets and the global infrastructure that comes with it. Alaska’s experiment may ultimately conclude for the industry3In 2005, all single-aisle operator America West Airlines acquired bankrupt widebody operator U.S. Airways, ultimately laying the groundwork for its subsequent acquisition of American Airlines in 2013. In less mature markets like Asia and the Middle East, the result has been different. Cebu Pacific, long an A320 family and ATR operator, adapted its high-density low-cost model for the most tightly packed A330ceo and Neos currently flying around southeast Asia. AirAsia has expanded with A330s for Air Asia X, but it has struggled post pandemic. The next big test of this transition will be in India as Indigo inducts its first A350-900s starting in 2027, though the airline already wet leases two surplus Turkish 777-300ERs between Istanbul and India. that this transformation can only be achieved through buying, rather than building, scale.
“We’re not repairing, we’re not fixing, we’re not restructuring, we’re not recovering. We’re building our future that’s a step change from our past,” said AAG CEO Ben Minicucci at the company’s investor day on Dec. 10, outlining its shift in direction. “What could have taken us decades to build, is at our fingertips today.”
