Hawaii
Alaska Shakes Up Hawaii Travel Again With New Southern California Route
Alaska Airlines continues to expand its Hawaii network with a significant new route connecting Honolulu (HNL) and California. This latest addition reflects Alaska’s fast-growing influence on Hawaii travel. It raises intriguing questions about the competitive dynamics of leveraging Hawaiian Airlines, which already flies this route, with other potential players in the wings.
Alaska Airlines expands west coast-Hawaii options.
Starting June 12, 2025, Alaska Airlines will begin operating daily flights between Honolulu and Ontario (ONT), California. Hawaiian Airlines already serves this route, which uses its A321neo narrow-body. Before this announcement, Hawaiian was the only carrier that connected the Inland Empire to the islands.
Alaska’s move doesn’t clarify what could happen next, including Hawaiian possibly ending its flights, shifting to seasonal service, or both carriers maintaining dual operations. We’re sure to learn more about that soon. Upon checking, we see that both airlines have Ontario on their schedule through November 30.
One fascinating aspect is that we previously understood Alaska had planned to leverage the Hawaiian brand for all flights touching the islands. It isn’t clear if that will continue to be the case.
Aviation observer Ishrion Aviation first reported this new route. It highlights Alaska’s recognition of the growing potential of Southern California’s smaller airports. Ontario International Airport and the entire Inland Empire may become increasingly vital hubs for Hawaii travelers seeking to avoid the off-putting congestion of LAX. With its convenient location and super easy access, ONT and neighboring San Bernardino offer a fascinating advantage for Hawaii travelers in the region. BOH editors travel frequently between Hawaii and the Island Empire, which has also piqued our interest.
Strategic implications for Southern California and Hawaii.
This new route is a smart move for Alaska Airlines as it seeks to strengthen its hold on Hawaii-bound travelers from secondary airports in Southern California. ONT’s proximity to San Bernardino (SBD)—where Breeze Airways has hinted at potential Hawaii flights—adds another layer of intrigue.
Could Alaska’s expansion be a preemptive strategy to solidify its presence and counter any future competition from Breeze, which has yet to confirm Hawaii routes and must first obtain ETOPS certification? It also hints at Breeze perhaps being more of a Hawaii aspirant than we even realized.
In December, Alaska pointed to Ontario as part of its Hawaiian-Alaska integration plans, stating that ONT would likely be included in the next group of airports to share facilities between the two airlines.
You’ll recall that Hawaiian previously served Ontario using widebody aircraft before it brought the A321 to the route. BOH editors confirm having traveled on HNL-ONT when it was still a widebody flight and enjoyed ONT’s convenience. Alaska’s move to re-focus on this market with more narrow-body service aligns with the broader trend of airlines leveraging smaller, less congested airports to appeal to Hawaii leisure travelers seeking convenience.
This route offers an additional, traveler-friendly alternative to reach the islands for Hawaii visitors from the Inland Empire and surrounding areas. Alaska is positioning ONT as a key gateway for Hawaii-bound travelers while expanding its dominance in Southern California.
Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines before full integration.
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines maintain a partnership with Alaska as owner as they work toward full integration under one operating certificate later this year. This relationship is increasingly being leveraged as Alaska strategically expands its West Coast network.
The addition of the HNL-ONT route showcases Alaska’s abilities in this area, integrating its Boeing 737 MAX and Hawaiian’s Airbus A321neo fleets while utilizing Hawaiian’s widebody aircraft for strategic long-haul reach.
This evolving dynamic is reshaping Hawaii travel, with Alaska drawing on both companies’ capabilities and assets to strengthen its dominance in the market. As the integration progresses, travelers can look forward to more streamlined operations and expanded route possibilities under Alaska’s leadership.
What Hawaii travelers can expect.
Alaska’s entry into the HNL-ONT market brings both opportunities and questions. The increased competition still lies ahead and may lead to lower fares, making Hawaii more accessible to residents of Southern California. However, the sustainability of the two airlines operating daily flights on this route remains uncertain and will be revealed over time.
A new era of Hawaii travel.
Alaska Airlines’ addition of the Ontario to Honolulu route highlights its commitment to reshaping Hawaii travel. By leveraging the two fleets, Alaska is expanding its network and redefining competition in the Hawaii travel market. For travelers, these changes bring increased choices and the possibility of better pricing while raising questions about how the industry will adapt.
As Alaska continues to expand its dominance, it’s clear that Hawaii travel is entering an entirely new era where convenience, competition, and strategy play pivotal roles.
We welcome your input and insights.
Photo Credit © Beat of Hawaii.
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Suspect arrested in attempted armed robbery on North Shore
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Police have arrested a suspect in a violent attempted robbery on Oahu’s North Shore. Another suspect still has not been located.
Police said the two men approached another man in Mokuleia Friday night. One of the men allegedly assaulted the victim while the other one threatened him with a handgun.
According to police records, the suspects ran off when the victim called police.
Officers later identified one of the suspects as a 50-year-old man. He was arrested Tuesday and faces possible charges of robbery in the first degree.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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Few state bills this year face potential veto – West Hawaii Today
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Hawaii displays historic photos of Martin Luther King Jr. wearing flower lei during Selma march
HONOLULU — Photographs of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. adorned with flower lei from Hawaii residents who traveled to Selma, Alabama, to join him on a pivotal Civil Rights march went on public display Tuesday in the state Capitol in Honolulu.
The Selma-to-Montgomery marches galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which did away with most barriers such as poll taxes and other forms of voter discrimination targeting Black Americans in the Deep South.
A delegation of five people brought dozens of flower lei with them from Hawaii to Alabama in March 1965. Images of King wearing lei, garlands that are synonymous with Hawaiian culture, have been previously published — but most of the photos displayed in Hawaii’s new exhibit have never been seen before. Some photos have subtle variations, while others include figures who may have been deemed unimportant at the time. The exhibit runs through July 7.
One of the lei-bearers was Charles Campbell, a high school teacher and chairman of the Hawaii Civil Rights Conference, who a March 20, 1965 article in The Honolulu Advertiser quoted as saying: “Selma has the capability of becoming a real sore that could affect the entire nation.”
King was photographed wearing lei about two weeks after the event known as Bloody Sunday when state troopers violently attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965.
The photos were taken by Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, whose widow donated them to Hawaii’s Department of Accounting and General Services for the state’s archives.
After the photos were unveiled, Steven Springel stared at a photo of his mother, Nona Ferdon, who was a divorced mother of two children and a graduate student when she traveled to Selma.
This photo provided by Jeannine Herron shows Charles Campbell, who traveled to Alabama for the march from Selma to Montgomery, placing a lei on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Brown Chapel AME in Selma, Ala., March 21, 1965. Credit: AP/Matt Herron
Springel remembers he was just about to turn 7 and only realized as an adult how important her trip was. Growing up in Hawaii, “we never experienced segregation or racial inequality,” he said of his and his sister’s childhood. Ferdon died in 2021.
The exhibit, part of Hawaii’s programming to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, is a reminder people from the Aloha State participated in an important event in history, said Keith Regan, who oversees the department as the state’s comptroller and presided over the photo unveiling as acting governor while Gov. Josh Green is out of state.
The small delegation traveled thousands of miles “to be a part of the Civil Rights movement, to show ‘aloha’ to the world that Hawaii was there holding hands with our fellow brothers and sisters to ensure equality and justice were heard throughout the nation,” he said.
The Hawaii members also wore lei during first day of the 50-mile (80.46-kilometer) march. Mothers of Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu strung together fragrant plumeria plucked from church grounds to assemble the lei.
This photo provided by Jeannine Herron shows Nona Ferdon, a graduate student who accompanied the Hawaii delegation that traveled to Alabama in 1965 for the march for voting rights, attends the march in Selma, Ala., March 21, 1965. Credit: AP/Matt Herron
Giving lei, a word that is both singular and plural in the Hawaiian language, continues to be a way to share the “aloha” spirit. People in Hawaii give and receive lei for all kinds of reasons, including to celebrate birthdays and promotions, or to show appreciation or recognition.
Tomi Knaefler, who had traveled with the delegation as a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, planned to attend Tuesday’s news conference. But at 96 years old, she wasn’t feeling up to it, said her daughter, Pamela MacDonald, who did attend.
MacDonald said she was 14 when her mother went on the assignment, “the one that she holds dearest to her heart.”
The exhibit comes at the end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2026 term, which included a ruling gutting the remaining piece of the Voting Rights Act, setting off a wave of partisan gerrymandering in states in the South and endangering generations of gains in Black political representation.
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