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Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have announced a comprehensive refresh of their onboard beverage portfolios, introducing regional partnerships, premium wines, and targeted functional beverages across domestic and international routes for the summer 2026 travel season.
The rollout represents a coordinated commercial effort to enhance the guest experience across both carriers. By combining premium international brands with prominent West Coast and Hawaiian producers, the airlines aim to standardise and premiumise their food and beverage offerings across all cabins.
The initiative comes during a period of active passenger volume growth, as airlines increasingly leverage curated food and beverage programmes to differentiate their hospitality services and drive brand advocacy.
Onboard Hospitality Premiumisation
The development of the summer beverage programme represents a structured effort to align the onboard experience across both the Alaska and Hawaiian brands.
By consolidating their beverage programs, the airlines can leverage combined purchasing power to secure allocations from high-equity global wine estates and craft beverage producers. The investment focuses on delivering a restaurant-quality dining experience in the sky, pairing sophisticated flavour profiles with the airlines' multi-course international menus.
According to Mark Krolick, Managing Director of Products and Guest Experience at Alaska Airlines, the summer refresh is designed to meet passenger demand for craftsmanship and regional discovery, showcasing brands with strong geographical ties to the West Coast and the Hawaiian Islands.
Cold Brew Innovation
A central element of the summer launch is the expansion of Alaska Airlines' existing relationship with Oregon-headquartered Stumptown Coffee Roasters.
The partnership introduces Stumptown Copilot Cold Brew, a product developed specifically for the aviation environment. The beverage is manufactured in small batches utilising ethically sourced coffee beans and purified water, delivering a smooth, chocolatey finish.
The operational and service structure of the cold brew rollout includes:
Flight Accessibility – Stocked exclusively on select domestic Alaska Airlines routes exceeding 350 miles, alongside direct flights to and from Reykjavík, Iceland.
Cabin Distribution – Distributed as a complimentary beverage for passengers travelling in First Class and Premium Class.
Main Cabin Sales – Offered as an on-board retail purchase option for passengers seated in the Main Cabin.
Commercial Exclusivity – Packaged in a dedicated format that is available only on board Alaska Airlines flights and excluded from standard retail channels.
Curated Wine Selections and Corporate Social Responsibility
The cornerstone of the premium portfolio update is a newly designed international business class wine programme, which has been deployed across the long-haul networks of both carriers.
The summer wine list includes several prominent estate-produced vintages:
🍾 Louis Roederer Collection Champagne – A refined, estate-produced French champagne featuring bright citrus and delicate toasted notes.
🍷 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Armillary Cabernet Sauvignon – A rich, expressive red wine displaying layers of dark fruit.
🥂 Paul Hobbs Russian River Chardonnay – A balanced white wine with orchard fruit and citrus zest.
For Main Cabin passengers travelling on domestic routes, Hawaiian Airlines has introduced Tide & Vine, a dedicated wine programme designed to bring a sense of place to the in-flight experience. The selection includes a red blend, a white blend, and brut bubbles.
Beyond the glass, the Tide & Vine initiative is integrated into Hawaiian Airlines' broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework. A portion of all proceeds from the wine sales is donated to Mālama Maunalua, a regional non-profit organisation dedicated to the ecological restoration and protection of Maunalua Bay on Oʻahu.
The conservation partnership is supported by community volunteering. To mark World Oceans Day, a team of 25 volunteers from Hawaiian Airlines and Tide & Vine collaborated with the non-profit to extract more than 260 pounds of invasive algae species—including gorilla ogo, prickly seaweed, and leather mudweed—from the nearshore waters of Maunalua Bay. Over the past 17 years, the non-profit's community restoration projects have removed approximately 4 million pounds of invasive marine plants from the region.
Expanded Beverage and Tea Selections
To complement the core wine and coffee launches, the airlines are expanding their ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail and tea offerings on select routes:
🍹 Straightaway Premium Cocktails – Introducing pre-mixed, craft-strength cocktails including the Last Word and Roma Spritz.
🍵 Smith Teamaker Programme – Deploying a premium loose-leaf tea programme featuring custom herbal and caffeinated blends crafted in Portland, Oregon.
The systematic deployment of these seasonal beverage lines will continue throughout the summer trading window, providing both corporate and franchise routes with a standardised hospitality platform to support passenger satisfaction and drive ancillary retail revenues.
