The wait will have to wait. The Department of Justice has received an
extension
for its deadline to make a decision on the merger between Alaska Airlines and
Hawaiian Airlines.
The original deadline was Monday, August
4. It is now Thursday, August 15.
The $1.9 billion acquisition by Alaska
Airlines has faced myriad issues, ranging from the precedent of the decision
earlier this year to block the merger between JetBlue and Spirit to a lawsuit
by an investor by a Hawaiian objecting to the merger. That has led to much speculation
over the fate
of the alliance.
“That’s not unusual as you get to the end
of one of these very extensive merger reviews,” said Bill Baer, who headed the
DOJ’s Antitrust Division from 2013 to 2016 and was director of the Federal
Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition from 1995 to 1999 and is now a
visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It doesn’t tell us anything
about what the outcome is going to be, although the fact that they are still in
discussions suggests to me that the Justice Department is looking very
seriously at the proposed merger, and may well — we don’t know, but it may well
— file a challenge.”
More Thorough Review?
Or it could simply mean that the
Department of Justice is conducting a more thorough review.
“If the parties are in negotiations, it’s
not unusual for (extensions) to happen,” Baer said. “But this looks to me, as
an outside observer, like we’re getting close to the end game. … At the end of
these investigations, the merging parties, in this case Alaska and Hawaiian,
will often come in and meet with senior officials of the Antitrust Division and
explain why they think this is a good deal for citizens of Hawaii and for
consumers who travel on both airlines to and from the islands.”
Alaska Airlines said in a statement:
“We continue to believe this combination
will enable a stronger platform for growth and competition in the United
States, long-term job opportunity for employees, and continued investment in
local communities and environmental stewardship. We will continue to cooperate
with the DOJ in this review process.”
Baer added, “The fact that the
investigation is still going on suggests that there could be a legal challenge
where the Justice Department would go into a federal district court and argue
that, on balance, this deal is bad for consumers, it’s bad for competition, and
ask the court to enter an injunction prohibiting the merger from going forward.
We don’t know that’s what going to happen here, but that possibility clearly
remains on the table.”
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