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Some of Hawaiian Airlines’ 1,400 non-union employees will lose their jobs and other positions may be relocated to Seattle as part of the carrier’s merger with Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian’s new chief executive said.

The vast majority of non-union jobs – plus all of Hawaiian’s 6,000 union workers — will remain untouched by Alaska’s acquisition of Hawaiian, said Joe Sprague, a former longtime Alaska executive who succeeds Peter Ingram as Hawaiian’s interim chief executive.

The combined companies will maintain a substantial headquarters in Honolulu, Sprague said. Most current non-union employees will have long-term positions, others interim positions of a year or more, Sprague said Wednesday during an interview.

But, he said, a “small number will not have a position.”

He and an airlines spokesman declined to be more specific, saying the number is not known.

He stressed that even the workers who are cut will stay aboard at least 90 days and receive severance packages.

“Nobody is being asked to leave right away,” he said.

Sprague’s comments that at least some non-union jobs will be lost come alongside assurances that all union jobs will be safe. Earlier this month, for instance, Gov. Josh Green  saying his administration worked with Alaska’s leadership and insisted the combined entity “preserve union jobs.”

Union workers include pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.

But protections for the 1,400 non-union jobs including executive and managerial positions, it turns out, are far from absolute. In a press release announcing the completion of the $1.9 billion deal, Alaska said Sprague will act as Hawaiian’s chief executive until the Federal Aviation Administration grants a certificate allowing the two separate airlines to operate as one entity. But eventually, Ben Minicucci, Alaska Air Group’s chief executive, will lead the combined organization, the company said.

In addition to Sprague, Hawaiian’s interim Honolulu leadership team includes Shannon Okinaka, executive vice president of administration; Robin Kobayashi, senior vice president of human resources, and Jim Landers, senior vice president for technical operations, Hawaiian said in a statement. In addition, Daniel Chun, Alaska’s regional vice president for Hawaii, will oversee community and cultural relations, government affairs and Hawaii sales, the statement said.

One-On-One Meetings With All Non-Union Workers

While the companies will eventually combine operations, Alaska will maintain a regional headquarters in Honolulu and maintain the Hawaiian brand, Alaska said in a statement.

To determine future staffing of the combined companies, Sprague said in an interview that executives met one on one with each employee to gain an understanding of each employee’s background, experience and aspirations.

Meanwhile, he said, the companies have been doing significant work to determine the design and structure of the new organization. The work of integrating the massive and enormously complicated businesses will take time.

For example, Sprague said almost all IT workers in Hawaiian’s 90-person technology center near Phoenix have received interim offers to stay on board for more than a year so teams from the two airlines can work together.

And it’s not just the companies with issues to work out; the unions face their own internal work. For example, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA,   saying that within the next 30 days the union will call a meeting with union leaders from both airlines to review the merger process and how combining the two workforces affects things like seniority.

“Hawaii’s Changing Economy” is supported by a grant from the as part of its CHANGE Framework project.