💧 North and Also West to the Future

[Nuts and gum, together at last!]
For most of the 2010s, Virgin America was my preferred way to travel between Boston and San Francisco. Eventually, however, Virgin shuttered their cross-country routes from Boston when they were acquired by the extremely West Coast-based Alaska Airlines. As a result of that merger, I have a frequent flier account with Alaska, despite never having flown their airline.

So it was that I received news in my inbox about the merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. I found this to simultaneously be perfectly logical and completely bizarre. Alaska and Hawaii seem like the two most different states in the country. One extends incredibly far north, a polar region of bitter cold, snow, and ice. The other sits very far west, a lush equatorial paradise. Flying between the two seems like it would be incredibly strange, in either direction.

Strange though it may be, the two brands now exist under the same corporate umbrella. However, they’re apparently going to maintain each brand independently. That’s probably for the best, given that the name Northwest Airlines has already been used. On the other hand, I’ve got the perfect name for the potentially merged company: Inset Airlines. Come fly the inset skies!