Virgin America takeover approved by US government
Alaska Air Group’s takeover of Virgin America has been approved by the US Department for Justice.
The Group already owns Alaska Air and Horizon Air.
Chairman and CEO Brad Tilden said: "We couldn’t be more excited about receiving DOJ clearance for our merger with Virgin America.
"With this combination now cleared for take-off, we’re thrilled to bring these two companies together and start delivering our low fares and great service to an even larger group of customers."
Alaska was not required to divest any assets as a condition of DOJ clearance.
Alaska did agree to implement limited changes to its codeshare agreement with American Airlines, although the majority will remain intact.
The company plans to complete the merger ‘in the near future’, but its takeover of Virgin America is still the subject of a private lawsuit in San Francisco.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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