Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Alaska Airlines ‘ $1.9B merger with Hawaiian Airlines clears U.S.
Department of Justice review, now awaiting final approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Alaska Airlines announced that its proposed acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines has received clearance from the U.S. Justice Department, as the antitrust review period concluded without any legal action to block the $1.
9 billion merger. This comes eight months after the initial announcement of the agreement between the two airlines. The next step for the merger is to obtain approval from the U.
S. Transportation Department, though the timeline for this process remains uncertain. If completed, this merger would mark the most significant consolidation in the U.
S. airline industry since Alaska Airlines’ merger with Virgin America eight years ago. “The time period for the U.
S. Department of Justice to complete its regulatory investigation of the proposed combination of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines under the [Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements] Act has expired,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement . “This is a significant milestone in the process to join our airlines.
” This development follows the U.S. Department of Justice’s success earlier this year in blocking JetBlue Airways’ acquisition of Spirit Airlines through a court ruling in January.
Additionally, last year, the DOJ secured a victory in a lawsuit that dissolved a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines in the Northeast. Hawaiian Airlines faced numerous challenges in the months leading up to its merger announcement with Alaska Airlines last December, including the devastating Maui wildfires, heightened competition from Southwest Airlines, and the sluggish recovery of travel to and from Asia following the Covid-19 pandemic. Hawaiian Airlines has reported net losses in all but one quarter since 2020, although executives have recently indicated an improvement in booking trends.
As of Monday, Hawaiian’s shares had risen nearly 12% this quarter, in contrast to the declines seen in most other airline stocks. When the merger was announced in December, the two airlines stated they would maintain each brand while operating under a unified platform, creating a combined fleet of over 360 aircraft serving more than 130 destinations. The U.
S. Justice Department and Transportation Department have not provided any immediate comments on the matter as of Tuesday..
