Tag Archives for Alaska Airlines.
Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines last week and promised that points transfers between the two programs would come the same month. And they’re here.
Alaska Airlines is raising $1.5 billion in debt against its Mileage Plan frequent flyer program, which it expects to use in part to pay down the $900 million in Hawaiian Airlines debt it’s taken on as part of acquiring the Honolulu-based carrier.
With the deal for Alaska Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines ,now done, they’re beginning to move forward on integrating the two carriers.
The Department of Justice didn’t oppose Alaska Airlines buying Hawaiian. That meant the Department of Transportation would allow it, but it was clear they were going to require specific concessions. That’s all happened. Alaska can now close the transaction to acquire Hawaiian Airlines.
With DOT still to approve the deal, the opportunity for parties to get their wish lists in appears to be now. Approval so far has been helped by Hawaii’s supportive politicians. In exchange, Alaska has offered promises about what their stewardship of the brand and its routes will look like. It seems reasonable to expect some of those promises will be written into binding commitments by the federal government.
United Airlines disclosed in a filing that they had a conversation with the Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Transportation regarding Alaska Airlines acquiring Hawaiian Airlines. United had to file this to avoid having had an improper ex parte communication over an active matter before the Department.
The Department of Transportation is expected to approve the deal – after consultations with both the Office of the President and of the Vice President, according to Alter. DOT may still extract concessions from Alaska prior to doing so.
Everything is securities fraud? If DOJ sues to block the deal prior to close there will almost certainly be a shareholder lawsuit. Nonetheless, Hawaiian shares haven’t fallen in after-hours trading and remain well north of $17 per share, suggesting an expectation that the deal will still close despite this change in language.
Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines has quietly received Department of Justice approval. After two extensions of the deadline for DOJ to file an anti-trust suit, that looked as though there were ongoing negotiations that would have led to a possible settlement – and DOJ filing an appearance in court in Honolulu in case there wasn’t – the government allowed the time to file to lapse.
Unless there’s another extension, we’ll learn today whether the Department of Justice signs off on an Alaska Airlines – Hawaiian Airlines merger, or files suit against it. The parties have been negotiating feverishly over conditions that Alaska would agree to in order to avoid government opposition. And there’s some suggestion now about what concessions may be demanded.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
