Alaska Airline’s merger with Hawaiian Airlines has taken another step closer to reality after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) opted not to further examine the deal.
The $1.9bn deal was first announced in December 2023 and submitted for DoJ scrutiny in February, with many in the industry expecting the department to oppose the merger after it successfully blocked a similar deal between JetBlue and Spirit earlier this year.
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The department appears to have taken a more lenient approach to Alaska’s proposal by choosing not to raise a challenge to the merger in the timeline required by the antitrust HSR Act.
Governor of Hawai’i Josh Green described the step as a “significant milestone” for the deal and said: “During the DoJ’s review, Alaska worked closely with the Hawai‘i Attorney General to reinforce and expand upon our commitments for the future of Hawaiian Airlines and to Hawai‘i consumers.
“These include plans to maintain the Hawaiian Airlines brand and local jobs and continue providing strong service between, to, and from the Islands.”
While passing the DoJ’s scrutiny without opposition marks a significant boost for the deal, Alaska will still have to receive interim approval from the Department of Transportation for the merger’s required route transfers before finalising the acquistion.
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By GlobalDataIf successful, the merger would see Hawaiian incorporated into Alaska’s business, with operations headquartered in Seattle, but the airline brands would remain.
The DoJ’s scrutiny was likely the biggest hurdle for the agreement thanks to the department’s crackdown on large mergers under the Biden Administration, as well as similar deals such as the Northeast Alliance between JetBlue and American Airlines. But the DoT could yet raise its own concerns to Alaska.
The merger has received scrutiny from some in the industry for the fact that it would give the new company a more than 50% share of the air travel market of Hawai’i, though the companies have argued it would also allow travellers to reach a wider range of destinations from the island state.
