Alaska Airlines-Hawaii Airlines Merger Clears Justice Department Hurdle, Now Faces DOT – Business News (Trending Perfect)

Alaska Airlines She said her plan to acquire Hawaiian Airlines The grace period for antitrust regulators to end their investigation into the deal without filing a lawsuit to block the transaction has expired, eight months after the two companies announced a $1.9 billion merger agreement.

The two airlines must now obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation before the deal can be completed. It was not immediately clear how long that process would take.

The merger is expected to be the largest U.S. airline merger since Alaska merged with Virgin America eight years ago.

“The time period set by the U.S. Department of Justice to complete its regulatory investigation into the proposed merger of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines under Federal Law 11 of 1991.” [Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements] “The law has expired. This represents a significant milestone in our airline integration process,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

This development comes after the Ministry of Justice won a court ruling in January that prevented jetblue airlines'acquisition of Spirit AirlinesLast year, the Justice Department won another lawsuit that invalidated a Northeast partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines.

Hawaiian faced a host of challenges in the months leading up to the deal — which the two companies announced last December — including wildfires in Maui, increased competition from Southwest Airlines, and the slow recovery of travel to and from Asia after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hawaiian has posted net losses in all but one quarter since the start of 2020, but executives recently said booking trends are improving. Hawaiian shares are up about 12% this quarter, as of Monday, while shares of most other airlines are down.

The two airlines said in December when they announced the deal that they would retain each company's brand but operate under one platform, combining a fleet of more than 360 aircraft covering more than 130 destinations.

The Justice Department and the Transportation Department did not immediately comment Tuesday.