What to Know Concerning the Alaska Airways Merger with Hawaiian Airways

Alaska Airways’ merger with Hawaiian Airways was finalized on Wednesday with each carriers sustaining their model id.

The merger, which cleared hurdles from each the Division of Justice (DOJ) and Division of Transportation (DOT), will create a community of 141 locations, together with 29 in different nations, in accordance with Alaska Airways. Whereas each manufacturers will stay separate, Alaska has now established Honolulu as its second largest hub and mentioned it is going to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to function each airways as one with an built-in passenger system.

Quickly, vacationers will have the ability to e book each Alaska and Hawaiian flights on every airline’s web site.

“Alaska and Hawaiian share super delight in connecting communities with award-winning service, and we stay up for inviting extra visitors on board to expertise what makes each manufacturers distinctive,” Ben Minicucci, the CEO of Alaska Air Group, mentioned in an announcement, including the corporate will present “the superb operation visitors have come to count on, increasing choices to seamlessly journey almost anyplace on this planet, and securing the monetary stability and worth that evokes funding.”

As a part of the merger, Alaska Lounge members will now have the ability to entry lounges when flying on Hawaiian. Quickly, vacationers will have the ability to switch miles between Alaska’s Mileage Plan and Hawaiian’s HawaiianMiles in addition to standing match between the 2 airways, and ultimately, the corporate plans to roll out a single loyalty platform.

As a part of its approval, the DOT positioned strings on the merger, together with requiring each airways to make sure mileage rewards are usually not devalued, don’t expire, and switch at a 1:1 ratio, in addition to assure every provider matches and maintains equal loyalty standing ranges. The DOT additionally required each airways to ensure fee-free household seating and protect service to small, rural communities in each Alaska and Hawaii, amongst different necessities.

“Our high precedence is defending the touring public’s curiosity on this merger,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned in an announcement. “We now have secured binding protections that preserve essential flight providers for communities, guarantee smaller airways can entry the Honolulu hub airport, decrease prices for households and repair members, and protect the worth of rewards miles in opposition to devaluation.

“This extra proactive strategy to merger overview marks a brand new chapter of DOT’s work to face up for passengers and promote a fairer aviation sector in America,” he added.

Alaska first introduced its plans to buy Hawaiian Airways late final yr with the aim of sustaining each the Alaska Airways and Hawaiian Airways manufacturers and integrating them right into a “single working platform.”

Whereas this merger has been allowed to shut, different proposed airline mergers haven’t been as fortunate. Earlier this yr, a federal decide blocked an anticipated merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airways, ruling it was illegal as a result of it violated antitrust legal guidelines, forcing them to formally abandon their plans. And final yr, a U.S. decide equally ordered JetBlue and American Airways to finish their alliance, which JetBlue in the end determined to not enchantment.