There’s
still a lot of work to be done, but a potential merger between Hawaiian
Airlines and Alaska Airlines cleared another
hurdle.
The
two carriers reached what
is known as a timing agreement with the Department of Justice. This is part
of the review process.
That
is, Hawaiian and Alaska are consenting to a stipulation which prevents the
finalization of their merger. That final decision will be made by the DOJ,
which reserves the right to veto the deal. The timing agreement means that the
two airlines have complied with a request to provide further information about
the proposed deal.
Alaska
Airlines proposed last year to acquire Hawaiian for about $2 billion.
The
merger comes in the wake of the proposed agreement between JetBlue Airways and
Spirit Airlines, which was blocked by the Department of Justice in a lawsuit
and later upheld by a federal judge. That deal has since been abandoned.
The
Department of Justice and the federal judge both agreed that any deal between JetBlue
and Spirit would violate antitrust laws.
This
potential merger between Hawaiian and Alaska still has to undergo further
scrutiny and it remains to be seen whether it falls under the alleged bias by
the Biden administration against big business.
But Alaska
CEO Ben Minicucci said earlier that he believes this is a separate deal and
that there is minimal overlap in routes and fare prices.
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