In April it was first announced that Alaska would be taking over Virgin America in a ~$2.6 billion deal. Unfortunately there have been rolling delays in the closing of the deal. Initially the deadline for the merger to close was October 17, 2016. However, it looks like the Department of Justice isn't approving the deal…
Continue reading: Is Alaska’s Takeover Of Virgin America In Jeopardy?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I'd guess that alaska is willing to delay the deal to negotiate with a more business friendly DOJ under the new administration
The JetBlue idea is an interesting one. That would connect them east-west, the airlines serve similar clientele, etc.
It's a little odd that the DOJ is worried about a lack of competition with the domestic airline now. Could be someone from the legacy carriers is whispering in a regulator's ear?
So NOW the DOJ cares about competition after all these mergers that have left us with just three legacy airlines that pretty much control the market? That's rich.
The only reason this merger is contemplated to save the ultra-liberal (mental disordered) Sir Richard Branson's investment in Virgin America, which is 1% below the legal allowance for a foreign national. He wants to cash out. This merger shouldn't even be allowed. Alaska should have merged with American, and US Airways should not have been allowed to merge with ANYONE.
Really great grip on psychiatry Melissa. Nice to see they have internet access on your ward.
@Jay_dubya I'm not so sure about that. Trump has expressed a lot of skepticism about big mergers in the past. But then again he hated Wall Street just until AFTER the plebeians elected him, so maybe he'll change his tune on mergers too.
I need this merger to go through ASAP, because my virgin miles are pretty much worthless when it comes to redeeming them for international flights to any place someone would want to go.
Emirates redemption is ridiculously priced.
Atlantic ( if that relationship still xists has some ridiculous taxes)
Singapore ( non existent )
Virgin australia - only redeemable us hub is LAX
Hawaiin - can only redeem to and from hawaii
Well if there is a problem with the merger their stock price sure isn't showing it. It's done nothing but go up up and up.
I'm really hoping for this to go through so I can use my Virgin America points to fly from Nashville to Seattle on Alaska. Been dreaming of this trip for a while now.
Hi Dennis. There's always Greyhound. I found a $119 fare on January 4. 62h 45 mins. Eesh. Free wifi, tho. Interesting people!
American/US approved creating world's biggest airline and insuring airline oligopoly.
But tiny Alaska/Virgin not approved for hindering competition.
hahahahahaha, dat DOJ got a sense of humor.
Hmmmmm . . . where to start?
YES, the idea that the DOJ is balking at this merger, after allowing American/USAir, Delta/Northwest, and United/Continental *is* indeed laughable.
I see no reason why (e.g.) giving up Alaska's present gates in SFO's International terminal should be a problem for anyone -- just keep the gates in T2.
I'm "Gold" w/Virgin America, and my wife is "Silver" vis-a-vis elite status. And while our miles will no longer transfer to Virgin Atlantic (which we used to fly on a regular basis using VX points), they do transfer to Singapore and Virgin Australia. (Since we travel to Europe more frequently than to Asia, that's a loss that truly hurts.) Now, granted, finding award seats can always be an issue, but even in the worst case scenario, we have enough points for free domestic travel for several flights if the merger does fall through.
Given Delta's aggressive strategy @ SEA, I would think that it would be easy for Alaska to give up any codeshares with Delta. They are far more like "frenemies" than true partners. American should be taking advantage of that and strengthening their ties with Alaska to whatever extent they can, short of Alaska joining OneWorld and losing its independent status. Now, if the DOJ is pushing for Alaska to sever ties with American and keep those with Delta, it's a whole other story . . .
I am certainly not an airline professional, nor do I have any special insight into these things; I am just a consumer. But even at the time of the initial bidding, a merger with JetBlue made far more sense to me than it did with Alaska. It still does. They are both dedicated Airbus fleets; they have complimentary and synergistic routes/strengths on each of their respective Coasts; etc, etc. The problem now -- should the VX-AS merger fall through -- Virgin has lost several partner airlines and, in order to remain viable, they would need to reestablish some ties very quickly. OR . . . JetBlue would have to (and hopefully) come to the proverbial rescue.