Hawaiian Airlines Pilots Required to Shave Beards Amid Alaska Policy Change
Hawaiian Airlines pilots must shave their beards by April 20. The change follows the carrier’s merger with Alaska Airlines and a move to one operating certificate.
Merger and new appearance standards
The combined carrier will align uniform and grooming rules across both brands. Hawaiian will adopt the same standards used by Alaska Airlines under the single operator’s certificate.
Hawaiian crews were long allowed to wear beards. That status reflected cultural considerations in Hawaii and a different FAA guidance interpretation.
What management said
Alaska Airlines Group chief pilot Scott Day informed Hawaiian pilots that facial hair must meet specific safety requirements. He stated that beards will not be authorized under the unified rules.
After pushback, Alaska Airlines Group vice president of flight operations Dave Mets acknowledged staff concerns. Mets said leadership did not intend to diminish Hawaiian culture while enforcing the policy.
FAA guidance and the safety debate
The Federal Aviation Administration has not issued an outright ban on beards. However, an FAA advisory circular from 1987 warns that facial hair can interfere with an air-tight oxygen mask seal.
Many airlines rely on that advisory when setting grooming rules. The FAA guidance has not been updated since it was first published nearly four decades ago.
Recent studies and conflicting findings
Researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University tested 24 volunteers in a hypoxia chamber. The simulation mirrored decompression at 30,000 feet.
Volunteers were clean-shaven, had short beards, or had long beards exceeding 10mm. The study found no difference in mask donning time or arterial oxygen saturation among the groups.
Investigators also exposed subjects to strong-smelling compounds while masked. None of the masked volunteers detected the odors, suggesting the masks remained airtight.
The results were published in the Journal of Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance. A prior 2016 study, commissioned by Air Canada, reached similar conclusions and led that airline to lift its beard prohibition.
Contrasting decisions elsewhere
Not all carriers followed those studies. In 2025, Qantas imposed a beard ban for pilots at its QantasLink subsidiary. The decision followed a safety review by QinetiQ, which found potential interference risks for quick-donning oxygen systems.
That divergence shows the issue remains unsettled among operators and regulators.
Context and next steps
The policy shift affects grooming practices immediately for Hawaiian crews. Pilots required to shave will transition to the Alaska-aligned standards starting April 20.
As first reported by Filmogaz.com, the change highlights tensions between cultural practices and standardized safety protocols. Airlines continue to defer to longstanding FAA guidance while research and debate continue.
