Hawaiian Airlines’ Honolulu Leaders Named

Alaska Air Group on Tuesday announced the core Hawaiian Airlines leadership team that will oversee the combined operations in Honolulu, the company’s second-largest hub, once the carriers obtain a single-use operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration this fall.

The newly named Honolulu leadership team will support thousands of Hawaii-based employees, while working toward key integration milestones, including the rollout of a combined loyalty program launching this fall and the adoption of a single passenger service system next spring.

Joe Sprague, Hawaiian CEO, said in a statement, “Hawaii will always be Hawaiian Airlines’ home, and I’m so proud to serve alongside our Honolulu leadership team and our 6, 500-plus team members in the islands to build on Hawaiian’s 95-year legacy of providing safe, reliable and enjoyable service to our communities.

“We all look forward to continuing to deliver greater value to our kamaaina and visitors through our expanding, joint network with Alaska Airlines, a new combined loyalty program arriving in October, and much more in the months and years ahead, ” Sprague said.

Key members of the company’s new Honolulu leadership team include :—Jim Landers, who joined Hawaiian Airlines in 2013 and is currently senior vice president of technical operations, will assume the role of head of Hawaii operations.—Alisa Onishi, who joined Hawaiian Airlines in 2011, will become managing director of marketing for Hawaii.—Daniel Chun, who has 14 years of leadership experience at Alaska Airlines in Hawaii, will serve as managing director, Hawaii public affairs and sales.—Jonathan Goo, who has 20 years of service with Hawaiian and is a member of the Alaska Air Group Safety team, has been named the safety director.—Melodi Pieper, a member of both the Honolulu and Alaska Air Group People leadership teams and a 26-year Hawaiian Airlines employee, will serve as human resources regional director.

Alex Da Silva, spokesperson for Hawaiian, said in an email to the Star-­Advertiser that, “All members of the Honolulu leadership team are expanding their responsibilities to support the ongoing integration and future Hawaiian Airlines growth in Hawaii. Earlier this month, our former senior vice president of human resources, Robin Kobayashi, retired from Hawaiian.

“This team represents the core Honolulu-based leaders for Hawaiian going forward, ” Da Silva said. “No other announcements on the horizon, beyond the head of Hawaii guest operations, which we plan to name this fall.”

Several other Hawaiian Airlines leaders have been appointed to Hawaii-based positions that report to the Honolulu leadership team.

Beau Tatsumura, who joined Hawaiian in 2014 and is currently responsible for the performance, quality and reliability of Hawaiian’s fleet, has been named managing director, Hawaii, international and heavy maintenance.

Monica Kobayashi, who has 20 years of experience with Hawaiian, earlier this month was appointed to managing director of airport operations and customer service.

The combined company has led to these key promotions and expansion of Hawaiian’s union workforce, which has added 522 union jobs this year. However, three rounds of merger-related job cuts already have eliminated 386 noncontract jobs with Hawaiian this year ; 16 were outside of Hawaii.

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