Alaska Air Group executives are not sure when they will
receive antitrust clearance for their acquisition of Virgin America but remain
confident the deal will be approved.
An
extended antitrust review by the U.S. Department of Justice already has
pushed back closure of the deal, which would push Alaska past JetBlue as the
fifth-largest carrier in the United States. In the carrier's third-quarter
earnings call, CEO Brad Tilden said the DOJ's issues are "manageable."
When the deal was announced
this year, Alaska had hoped to get it done by the end of September. "Our
hope is that we will have antitrust clearance soon," Tilden said. "We
continue to be very confident that the deal will get done in a way that
benefits all of our stakeholders. This is a pro-consumer merger of two smaller
airlines that will bring new low-fare competitions, industry-leading service
and innovative product offerings."
Meanwhile,
Alaska reported that passenger revenue increased 2 percent year over year to
$1.3 billion in the third quarter. Traffic and capacity each increased 8.1
percent, keeping load factor steady at 85.6 percent. Yield declined 5.7
percent. Alaska reported net income of $256 million, down from $274 million in
the third quarter of 2015.