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Alaska Air to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal

SEATTLE (AP) — Alaska Airlines said Sunday it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal, including debt, putting it on track for a potential clash with a Biden administration that has shown wariness about higher fares in the industry.

The combined company would keep both airlines' brands, rooted in the nation's 49th and 50th states. Alaska will pay $18 in cash for each share of Hawaiian, whose stock closed Friday at $4.86 after losing just over half its value in the year so far.

The deal also includes $900 million in Hawaiian debt, which the airlines said brings the acquisition's total value to $1.9 billion. The combined airline would be based in Seattle, with Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci at its head. The companies forecast the acquisition will add to profits within two years of the deal closing. The combined airline would participate in the oneworld Alliance, which includes American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific.

Alaska and Hawaiian are both smaller than the nation’s dominant carriers, but they said a combination would meld two complementary networks to offer more connectivity to 138 destinations for passengers traveling through the continental United States and across the Pacific, including nonstop service to 29 international destinations in the Americas, Asia, Australia and the South Pacific.

Hawaiian has a deep and long history within the islands, stretching back to its incorporation in 1929 under the name Inter-Island Airways.

The companies said they would keep Honolulu as a key hub and that they're “committed to maintaining and growing union-represented workforce” in Hawaii. They also said the combination would triple the destinations that can be reached within one stop in North America for travelers from Hawaii.

“We have a longstanding and deep respect for Hawaiian Airlines, for their role as a top employer in Hawai'i, and for how their brand and people carry the warm culture of aloha around the globe,” Minicucci said in a statement.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies, but it still needs an OK from the shareholders of Hawaiian Holdings. It will also need the blessing of U.S. regulators, which have resisted more airline consolidation out of fear it could lead to higher fares.

Both Hawaiian and Alaska are leading airlines flying between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland, which could raise concerns about lessened competition.

The Biden administration is already trying to block JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Sprit Airlines, which would subsume the nation’s biggest budget carrier. The Justice Department also won a lawsuit that killed a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines.

The average domestic airline fare out of Seattle during the spring was $409.93. That was up from $293.08 two years earlier, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The average domestic airline fare out of Honolulu during the spring was $367.94, up from $329.93 two years earlier.

The Alaska and Hawaii companies expect the deal to close in 12 to 18 months.

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by Anonymousreply 27December 10, 2023 12:44 PM

This isn’t very gay.

by Anonymousreply 1December 3, 2023 9:48 PM

They should've done a $4.950 billion dollar deal.

by Anonymousreply 2December 3, 2023 9:50 PM

Hawaiian Airlines was unsustainable.

This is precisely the reason why airlines are so shitty nowdays.

Their prices were ridiculously high because they provided better service than other American carriers.

They offered free meals and complimentary cocktails on-board their Hawaii to US Mainland flights.

They also paid their pilots and employees a much better wage than the major domestic carriers.

And this is what happens when an airline tries to do it.

Hawaiian probably thought that better in-flight amenities and happier employees would mean better sales. But it didn't.

Americans want cheap airfares, even if it means shitty service, fights on-board the aircraft, and crazy people losing their shit in the air.

This is why we can't have nice things.

by Anonymousreply 3December 3, 2023 10:00 PM

I don't care about this merger. I have never flown either airline, and I doubt I ever will. But good luck to them both.

by Anonymousreply 4December 3, 2023 10:36 PM

This reminds me of that scene from Baby Boom.

Food Company offers JC Wyatt a multi-million dollar package to buy her Country Baby brand, which is based in Vermont.

Part of the buyout includes moving her headquarters to Cleveland, to which she replies: "Country Baby made in Cleveland? I don't think so."

Hawaiian Airlines based in Seattle? That has nothing to do with Hawaii. So what's the point of continuing Hawaiian Airlines?

They might as well just merge into one giant Alaska Airlines.

by Anonymousreply 5December 3, 2023 10:42 PM

[quote] They might as well just merge into one giant Alaska Airlines.

Never!

by Anonymousreply 6December 3, 2023 10:44 PM

They need to sunset both names and come up with a new name for the combined system.

by Anonymousreply 7December 3, 2023 10:57 PM

Hawaska

by Anonymousreply 8December 3, 2023 10:59 PM

[quote] They need to sunset both names and come up with a new name for the combined system.

Western Airlines!

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by Anonymousreply 9December 3, 2023 11:00 PM

Skaii

by Anonymousreply 10December 3, 2023 11:00 PM

That's a good name, r10. pronounced "sky?"

by Anonymousreply 11December 3, 2023 11:04 PM

49-50 Airlines

by Anonymousreply 12December 3, 2023 11:06 PM

Running a profitable airline is a tough business but I like that the Biden team is pushing back on consolidation. There's already too few choices in many markets and fewer Airlines mean higher prices and less competition for the Big 3. While laisser faire is the Capitalism mantra, greed blossoms when there's so much less competition.

by Anonymousreply 13December 3, 2023 11:07 PM

Alaiian Airlines.

by Anonymousreply 14December 3, 2023 11:08 PM

Halaska Airlines

by Anonymousreply 15December 4, 2023 12:50 AM

Alaska Airlines will ruin Hawaiian Airlines, just as they ruined, Virgin America and Horizon Airlines

by Anonymousreply 16December 4, 2023 1:00 AM

I want to pour one out for Virgin America. It was the only JetBlue clone that actually improved on JetBlue.

by Anonymousreply 17December 4, 2023 1:36 AM

[quote] I want to pour one out for Virgin America.

Vagaskahaw Airways

by Anonymousreply 18December 4, 2023 1:37 AM

They should name it 5150 Airways.

by Anonymousreply 19December 9, 2023 7:00 PM

You know what's weird, if you actually talk to people from Alaska, they dream about vacation's in Hawaii.

by Anonymousreply 20December 9, 2023 9:35 PM

Alaska has one of the best livery designs of any current airline.

The typography, the stripes, the Eskimo — it stands out. I hope they keep it.

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by Anonymousreply 21December 9, 2023 9:44 PM

r20, what do the vacations possess?

by Anonymousreply 22December 9, 2023 11:41 PM

Wasn't Hawaiian Air that plane that had the front top of the fuselage rip off mid flight? Sucking out the flight attendant? Alaska had the entire tail piece fall off because of some screw? Birds of a feather?

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by Anonymousreply 23December 10, 2023 1:09 AM

$1.9 billion seems pretty lowball.

by Anonymousreply 24December 10, 2023 1:22 AM

But, But, we need to bail them out because they are operating on pennies.

by Anonymousreply 25December 10, 2023 11:38 AM

There’s a TV movie about it that R23.

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by Anonymousreply 26December 10, 2023 12:12 PM

r21 Isn't "Eskimo" a problematic word these days?

by Anonymousreply 27December 10, 2023 12:44 PM
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