#Alaska Airlines

Inside the post-merger IT overhaul at Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines successfully executed a complex post-merger PSS (Passenger Service System) integration following its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, migrating millions of bookings and passenger data while maintaining dual brand identities on a single platform—a first-of-its-kind achievement in the aviation industry. The project demonstrates how strategic IT planning, phased deployment, extensive testing (including five full mock flights), and cross-organizational collaboration can minimize operational risk while executing mission-critical system migrations in a live environment. For CIOs, this case illustrates the importance of customer-centric design during large-scale integrations and how meticulous preparation and stakeholder alignment can enable transformational change without disrupting core business operations.