Alaska Air, Hawaiian extend review period of proposed deal by a day

Hawaiian Holdings

14/08/2024 11:48

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Alaska Air  ALK.N  said on Wednesday
it had agreed to extend by a day the review period of its
proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of peer Hawaiian Holdings
 HA.O .
    Alaska and Hawaiian agreed with the U.S. Department of
Justice (DOJ) to extend the review period to until 12:01 AM ET
on Aug. 16, the Seattle, Washington-based carrier disclosed in a
filing.
    Last month, the airlines said the review period was extended
to 12:01 AM ET, Aug. 15.
    The deal was announced last year and the carriers said in
March they "have been working cooperatively with the DOJ and
expect to continue to do so".
    The shortage of new aircraft worldwide has made airlines
turn to mergers and acquisitions to expand capacity and market
share. 
    The deal would give Alaska Air control of more than half of
the market for flights to Hawaii, one of the world's top holiday
destinations.
    However, such deals have faced tough scrutiny from
regulators. Earlier this year, a federal judge blocked JetBlue
Airways'  JBLU.O  planned $3.8 billion acquisition of
ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines  SAVE.N .
    

 (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
 ((Shivansh.Tiwary@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9708363192; X:
@Shivansh_19_;))