Alaska Airlines is positioning cargo as a major growth engine following its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, with the carrier expecting cargo revenue to reach $750 million by 2030. Executives said Wednesday that the strategy will be supported by international route expansion and the planned introduction of dedicated freighter service between the Hawaiian islands.
During an investor event, Alaska management said much of the complex integration work following the Hawaiian Airlines merger is now largely complete. That includes bringing the two companies together under a unified cargo booking system and a single operating certificate, as well as moving Alaska from a predominantly domestic airline toward a more international operation.
The focus is now shifting toward value creation, with premium travel, the loyalty program and cargo identified as key areas for growth.
Since the merger with Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024, Alaska’s cargo revenue increased 57% to $549 million in 2025. The size of that increase is partly influenced by the comparison with Alaska Air’s largely standalone results before the merger. Even so, the deal has significantly broadened the company’s cargo opportunities.
Hawaiian gave Alaska access for the first time to widebody passenger aircraft and long-haul international markets. During the first half of 2026, Alaska Air generated $316 million in cargo revenue, putting the carrier on pace to surpass $600 million for the full year, with the peak shipping season still to come.
Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK) currently serves five international destinations, including Tokyo, Seoul, London and Rome from Seattle, as well as another international destination in its network. Next year, the carrier plans to launch service from its Seattle hub to Paris and Athens, while targeting a total of 15 international destinations by 2030.
Most of those destinations are located in major industrial economies with substantial trade flows. Alaska’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft also provide considerable lower-deck capacity for cargo containers. Cargo yields tend to be higher on longer international routes than on short-haul domestic services, creating an additional revenue opportunity as the network expands.
Alaska Airlines currently operates three Boeing 737-700 converted freighters and two Boeing 737-800 passenger-to-freighter aircraft across its domestic network.
The freighter operation originally developed as a way for Alaska to connect communities throughout the state of Alaska with freight and mail services through its Seattle hub and onward to export markets in the lower 48 states. For years, cargo represented an annual business of approximately $130 million to $150 million.
In late July, the company disclosed plans to lease four additional 737-800 converted freighters. Two of those aircraft are expected to be deployed as dedicated freighters within Hawaii, operating between the islands from a base at Honolulu Airport.
The aircraft will carry a Hawaiian Air Cargo livery and are scheduled to enter service during the first half of 2027.
Alaska Air also inherited Hawaiian’s side business of operating Airbus A330-300 freighters for Amazon. Amazon provides the aircraft, while Alaska is responsible for crews, maintenance and insurance. The airline currently operates 11 Amazon freighters, and earlier this year it renegotiated its transportation contract under more favorable terms.
“Cargo allows us to fully monetize our assets across the network. As we grow internationally, optimize fleet deployment and leverage a combined Alaska and Hawaiian footprint, cargo becomes an increasingly meaningful contributor to both revenue growth and margin expansion,” said Ian Morgan, vice president of cargo, during the live-streamed event.
The international expansion gives Alaska another opportunity to generate incremental cargo revenue and profit from aircraft already flying scheduled passenger routes.
“Cargo contributes as much as 20% of flight revenue on transpacific routes, creating meaningful revenue enhancement without additional aircraft. Collectively, these businesses produce margins that are twice the system average, making cargo an important contributor to our long term financial targets,” Morgan said.
The carrier is already seeing the impact of its expanded international network.
Stemwilt Growers in Washington, working through freight forwarder Jetstream, used Alaska Air’s first summer of nonstop service between Seattle and Seoul to ship cherries to South Korea, according to a blog published on the Alaska Air Cargo website.
Stemilt moved approximately 860,000 pounds of dark sweet cherries to Seoul aboard Alaska’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners and also shipped some of its cherry volumes to London using the new service. The grower has been shipping cherries to Korea for 25 years.
Freshly harvested cherries are transported in refrigerated trucks to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where Jetstream stores them in specially designed coolers before handing the pallets over to Alaska Air. The airline is able to keep the cherries below 50 degrees to help preserve their shelf life.
Alaska Air’s cargo chief said the airline could eventually capture 50% of the cargo market in the state of Alaska, up from its current 37% share, as additional Boeing 737-800 freighters join the fleet. Competitors in that market include Northern Air Cargo and Lynden Air Cargo.
Hawaii presents a similar opportunity, although from a significantly smaller starting point.
Alaska Air currently holds only 6% of Hawaii’s interisland cargo market, competing against Southwest, Aloha Air Cargo, Transair Cargo and Kamaka Air using its passenger fleet.
The planned dedicated freighters would allow Alaska to transport palletized cargo between the four largest Hawaiian islands and the continental United States.
“By adding dedicated freighter service, leveraging Hawaiian’s brand, loyal customer base, and applying the operating model we have refined in Alaska, we see a path towards 50% share,” Morgan said.
“We’re not creating demand that doesn’t exist. We’re leveraging assets, capabilities, expertise we already possess and applying them to an underpenetrated market with significant growth potential.”
Morgan presented Alaska’s cargo growth and its 2.6% share of total revenue as outperforming the development seen among industry peers, although he acknowledged that comparisons come with significant qualifications.
Major U.S. carriers operate much larger international networks and generate three to four times Alaska’s total revenue. Those airlines also generally do not operate dedicated freighters.
Southwest Airlines may be the closest comparison because it operates a largely domestic network, with some short-haul international leisure destinations, and relies on an all-narrowbody fleet. Southwest generated $171 million in cargo revenue in 2025, with cargo accounting for 0.6% of total revenue.
United Airlines, meanwhile, is the cargo leader among U.S. passenger airlines, generating $1.8 billion in cargo revenue, equivalent to 3% of total revenue.
Why It Matters
Alaska Airlines is expanding its position in the air cargo market as it adds more standard freighter aircraft for local and domestic operations while continuing its transformation into a fully international carrier.
For beneficial cargo owners, that expansion means more shipping options across Alaska’s growing domestic, interisland and international network.
Alaska Accelerate
Cargo growth is unfolding alongside Alaska Air’s broader financial targets following the Hawaiian Airlines merger.
Overall, Alaska Air is now two-thirds of the way toward its goal of generating $1 billion in incremental profit and $10 in earnings per share from the Hawaiian merger. Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett said the company expects to reach that target by the end of 2027.
He also acknowledged several risks that could make the target more difficult to achieve, including the recent spike in jet fuel prices, inflation’s impact on consumer demand, massive flooding in Hawaii, and continued global economic uncertainty.
In the second quarter, Alaska reported a $76 million loss, compared with a $172 million profit in the same quarter a year earlier.
