Nearly 8 years ago Alaska Airlines decided to move their focus into the Hawaii Market. Aloha & ATA Airlines shut down in 2008 creating a gap in the market that Alaska was excited to fill. It's worked well for them and Alaska Airlines currently accounts for 27% of the West Coast visitors to Hawaii and 15% of overall traffic. Their newest venture is using Hawaiian biofuel on their flights which will go into effect in 2018.
Two years ago, Alaska Airlines and Hawaii BioEnergy signed an agreement which would allow the air carrier to start procuring jet fuel for its Hawaii flights as soon as fall 2018.
In April, a spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines told PBN in an email that it has no other agreements with any other Hawaii-based firms for biofuel supplies.
Alaska Airlines said it has reduced its carbon footprint by 30 percent since 2004. In 2011, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air were the first domestic airlines to fly multiple passenger flights powered by a biofuel blend.
Hawaii BioEnergy is a consortium of three of the state’s largest landowners and venture capital firms including Kamehameha Schools, Maui Land & Pineapple Co. Inc., Grove Farm, Finistere Ventures LLC and Ulupono Initiative.