Alaska Airlines to buy Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion

Alaska Airlines is acquiring Hawaiian Airlines, announced Hawaiian Airlines on Sunday.

Hawaiian Airlines said the merge will make a combined fleet of 365 narrow and wide-body airplanes. It will also allow customers to reach 138 destinations and over 1,2000 destinations through the Oneworld Alliance.

“This combination is an exciting next step in our collective journey to provide a better travel experience for our guests and expand options for West Coast and Hawai’i travelers,” said Alaska Airlines CEO, Ben Minicucci. “We have a longstanding and deep respect for Hawaiian Airlines, for their role as a top employer in Hawai’i, and for how their brand and people carry the warm culture of aloha around the globe.”

Alaska Airlines will acquire Hawaiian for $18 per share in cash, for a total of around $1.9 billion.

“Since 1929, Hawaiian Airlines has been an integral part of life in Hawai’i, and together with Alaska Airlines we will be able to deliver more for our guests, employees, and the communities that we serve,” said Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO, Peter Ingram. “In Alaska Airlines, we are joining an airline that has long served Hawai’i, and has a complementary network and a shared culture of service.”

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, which represents over 6,800 flight attendants at Alaska Airlines and 2,200 flight attendants at Hawaiian Airlines, released a statement:

AFA-CWA represents flight attendants at both Alaska and Hawaiian. Our first priority is to determine whether this merger will improve conditions for flight attendants just like the benefits the companies have described for shareholders and consumers. Our support of the merger will depend on this. “As a practical matter, our union Constitution and Bylaws provides a detailed process for this review with AFA leadership from each airline. “Mergers take time – this will not happen overnight. Our union will continue to press forward in negotiations at Alaska Airlines. Alaska flight attendants, joined by Hawaiian flight attendants, will be on the picket line Dec. 19 as holiday travel takes off.

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