Tag Archives for hawaiian airlines.
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.
Hawaiian’s own program isn’t great overall, but offers pretty good award availability on its own flights and uniquely two levels of upgrade inventory so that being willing to spend extra miles means that more often than not it’s possible to confirm an upgrade.
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.
A deal should be possible, notwithstanding that the Biden administration has opposed most forms of consolidation and cooperation (successfully in the airline industry, less so outside of it).
They need a little more time to get something done – and the parties still seem to think it’s possible – as suggested by another extension this time through the end of Monday.
The government now has until August 16th to conclude its review. An additional day means those involved in the negotiations think they’re close – close enough that a deal is possible, and without much more time.
Alaska Airlines is buying Hawaiian Airlines, unless the government stops them. They’re paying more than three times the Hawaiian share price at the time the deal was announced, and the real question is… why? This is a great deal for Hawaiian’s shareholders. Hawaiian Airlines frequent flyers will get more valuable miles out of the deal. There will probably be some reduction in seats flying between the Hawaiian islands, but that’s happening anyway as Southwest Airlines pulls back. Southwest saturated the market. Alaska is picking up planes, pilots, and experience flying to Asia Pacific destinations which the Seattle-based carrier has never done before. It doesn’t do any long haul flying. There just isn’t that much else for Alaska in the deal. A Honolulu hub that has no moat. Mainland – Hawaii flying is highly competitive, with…
Hawaiian Airlines has submitted a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that outlines what will happen to HawaiianMiles miles and elite status under the deal to be acquired by Alaska Airlines
Now that Alaska Airlines has announced plans to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, there is significant speculation about what it will mean for airfares, with one study claiming a 38% increase for Hawaiian Airlines fares. That’s important to anti-trust discussions over whether the deal will be approved, but it’s not how airfares work. And traditional anti-trust analysis is probably the wrong way to think about what will happen to this merger.
Alaska Airlines buying Hawaiian is good for Hawaiian‘s shareholders, who earn a premium for their shares they have little likelihood of achieving with the carrier as a standalone.
It is even neutral to good for customers. It just isn’t great business for Alaska.
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 »
