The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has granted the waiver needed to allow Alaska Air to complete its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, which was announced in December 2023.
The cleared path will allow the two carriers to operate under a single operating certificate.
Shortly after the announcement on Sept. 17, Alaska Air said an interim leadership team will lead Hawaiian while its current CEO, Peter Ingram, will step down following the closing of the transaction.
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Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines’ regional president for Hawaii/Pacific, will become CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, overseeing operations until the FAA issues a single operating certificate.
“Until that time, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will operate as one organization with two separate airline operations, under two individual operating certificates,” the Washington-based carrier said.
First merger in eight years
The DOT, however, has made the merger conditional on ensuring several protections for passengers of both airlines.
These include the accrued rewards and benefits, 1:1 mileage transfer, maintenance of previous status and that no new default fees be imposed.
The two carriers must also maintain critical routes between the Hawaiian Islands and the mainland and preserve access to competitors from Honolulu Airport.
Alaska Air has agreed to pay $1.9 billion for Hawaiian, the first merger in the United States since Alaska itself acquired Virgin America in 2016.
JetBlue and Spirit were supposed to merge recently, but U.S. antitrust regulators deemed the deal would harm their customers by combining two low-cost carriers.
Alaska and Hawaiian together have nearly 400 aircraft and complementary flight networks.
