It’s
all up to the Department of Transportation now. The
DOT
will make the final call on whether the merger between Alaska Airlines and
Hawaiian Airlines can proceed.
The
potential collaboration already cleared what many considered to be its most
significant hurdle when the Department of Justice signed off on the deal. The
DOJ successfully blocked a merger attempt between JetBlue Airways and Spirit
Airlines earlier this year.
Alaska
is proposing a $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian.
An Alaska Airlines
spokesperson said in a statement: “The proposed combination of Alaska
Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines remains subject to the U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT) approving an interim exemption application for the
transfer of international route authorities. USDOT’s review of this interim
exemption application has not yet been concluded.”
Getting
past the Justice Department is huge, but there is still the Transportation Department's
involvement. And the Biden Administration is considered to be anti-business.
A
DOT spokesperson said: “Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have filed a
transfer application to combine under one certificate and cannot combine their
operating authorities without the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approval.
The Department is reviewing the application and can only approve a transfer if
it is in the public interest.”
However, the Association of Flight Attendants said in a statement that the DOT review “has typically been a perfunctory approval.”
It
is not known when Department of Transportation officials will make an
announcement.
A
merger would create the fifth-largest airline in the United States behind American,
Delta, Southwest and United.
United
has already voiced
its opposition to the merger.
The
merger does have the endorsement of the governors of Hawaii, Washington and
Oregon. Alaska Airlines has a big presence in Washington and Oregon. Both
airlines would have their own brand identities.
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