Over past decade and a half, Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley has seen it all. From the dark days of bankruptcy during the early 2000s to the record high stock prices of 2017. Last November, Dunkerley announced that he will retire this March with chief commercial officer Peter Ingram taking over the top job.
Shortly before the announcement, Dunkerley sat down with Business Insider at the airline’s headquarters in Honolulu. Our conversation touched upon several topics including growth in Asia, expansion into the US, and changes to its fleet.
But first a bit of background.
Founded in 1929, Hawaiian is one of the oldest airlines in the world. As much as Emirates is a globe-trotting ambassador for Dubai and Qantas for Australia, Hawaiian serves as the flying embodiment of America’s 50th state.
«What we do is we sell Hawaii as a destination,» Dunkerley told us. «And we wrap ourselves in the flag of the culture and everything about the destination.»
Growth in Asia comes with competition from Asia.
For most of us in the US, Hawaiian is best known for its flights between the Islands and the mainland. However, a significant chunk of the airline’s business comes from intercontinental flights. And according to Dunkerley, Asia will be the next great source of growth for Hawaiian.
«When we think about growth, what we do is try and figure out where in the world do we think the Hawaii destination and product will have the greatest relevance and resonance,» he said. «And there’s no question that’s going to be in Asia.»
«As the center of economic, cultural, and political influence shifts from Western Europe and North America to Asia, so too will the ability to travel and the ambition to see the world and we are relatively speaking on the doorstep of this great transformational change,» Dunkerley added.
This is something other major carriers have honed in on as well. For example, Japan’s All Nippon Airways has purchased a fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos to service its Hawaiian routes. While Malaysian low-cost giant AirAsia X launched Airbus A330 service between Japan and Hawaii last year…
