The first shoe has dropped at Hawaiian Airlines, with the announcement that 73 of its 1,400 noncontract workers will get laid off with severance packages in mid-December, in the wake of its merger with Alaska Air Group Inc.

The new leadership team previously said that all of Hawaiian’s 6,000 union workers will remain untouched. The 73 layoffs are considered duplicative jobs, and the airline says the intent “is to retain most (noncontract) people for a year or longer.” Still, expect more layoffs as the merger dust settles — and for the sake of Hawaiian’s workforce and customer service, let’s hope the other shoe to drop will tread lightly.