Alaska Air Buys Virgin to Expand West Coast Flights David Koenig and Scott Mayerowitz - The Associated Press
go to original April 5, 2016

The proposed merger would make Alaska Air Group the biggest carrier on the West Coast and fifth-largest in the U.S. (Associated Press)

Alaska Air Group Inc. is buying Virgin America in a deal worth $2.6 billion, making Alaska the biggest carrier on the West Coast and reigniting the debate over airline consolidation.

The proposed merger also would give Seattle-based Alaska a foothold in key airports in New York and Washington, D.C., increasing the airline's appeal to business travelers.

"Our goal is to be the premier airline for people along the West Coast," Alaska CEO Brad Tilden told investors on a call Monday morning.

In Virgin's hometown of San Francisco, for instance, Alaska flies only to Seattle. Following the merger, it also would fly from San Francisco to several key markets including New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Denver and Washington D.C.

The merger pushes Alaska ahead of JetBlue Airways — which had also bid for Virgin — to become the fifth largest carrier in the U.S., based on passengers. The combined airline would control 5.5 percent of domestic passengers, compared with New York-based JetBlue's 4.2 percent. By comparison, the four largest U.S. airlines — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — controlled a combined 83 percent of domestic seats in the past year, according to an AP analysis of data from Diio, an airline-schedule tracking service.

Alaska said the deal will add Virgin's 200 daily departures to its existing 1,000 daily flights. The airline currently serves 112 destinations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Read the rest at NorthJersey.com

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!