Alaska Air Group has acquired Hawaiian Airlines, completing a transaction that expands its operation to include transpacific flights and that bolsters Alaska Air’s fleet with its first widebody jets.
The Seattle-based company, parent to Alaska Airlines, said on 18 September it had closed the deal, paying $1.9 billion in all-stock acquisition to acquire Honolulu-based Hawaiian.
“This is a historic day for Alaska Airlines as we officially join with Hawaiian Airlines,” says Alaska Air chief executive Ben Minicucci.
The companies on 17 September had received approval of their merger from the US Department of Transportation. The US Department of Justice did not sue to stop the deal despite having done so successfully to stop JetBlue Airways from acquiring Spirit Airlines.
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will continue operating under separate operating certificates and brands, though Alaska Air is working to bring them under a single operating ticket.
“Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines now begin the work to secure a single operating certificate with the Federal Aviation Administration, which will allow the two airlines to operate as a single carrier with an integrated passenger service system,” Alaska Air says. “In the interim, the airlines will continue to operate as separate carriers with no immediate changes to operations and will maintain separate websites, reservation systems and loyalty programs until later in the integration process.”
Alaska Air also says it will maintain the Hawaiian Airlines brand.
On 17 September, the airlines said Hawaiian’s former CEO Peter Ingram would step down when the acquisition closed, and be succeeded in that role by Joe Sprague, who would lead Hawaiian during the process of bringing the airlines under a single operating certificate. Sprague had been regional president of Hawaiian’s business in Hawaii and the Pacific region.
Alaska Air Group’s fleet now includes 240 Boeing 737s operated by Alaska Airlines, and Hawaiian’s two 787s, 19 Boeing 717s, 18 Airbus A321neos and 27 A330s. Alaska Air’s regional airline operation Horizon Air flies 44 Embraer 175s.
The company employs 33,000 people, operates some 1,500 daily flights and serves 141 destinations, including 29 outside the USA.
