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In December of 2023, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines announced that the airlines would combine. There are a lot of steps needed for a merger to happen, but Hawaiian Airlines put it up for a vote, and its shareholders approved.
Here's what the shareholder approval of the acquisition means for the Alaska–Hawaiian merger.
Hawaiian Airlines Shareholders Approve Alaska Airlines Acquisition
The original news about Alaska Airlines' merger with Hawaiian Airlines was nothing short of surprising. And, naturally, the original press release left us with more questions than answers. Call us optimistic, but many of our questions revolved around what a joint Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles program would look like. Yes, we know the combination wouldn't and won't happen any time soon, but it's fun to think about how that might play out.
Mergers — especially those in the airline industry — take a long time to unfold. A lot needs to happen to get to a final approval, and nothing is guaranteed. As an example, see the recent outcome of the JetBlue–Spirit combination. It didn't pan out.
However, as Hawaiian Holdings (Hawaiian Airlines) shareholders made clear in their meeting today, February 18, 2024, the merger can proceed. Shareholders approved the Alaska–Hawaiian combination in a substantial majority opinion. The two airlines still need to deal with regulatory red tape, but the press release from today's meeting indicates that both carriers expect the merger to close sometime between December 2024 and June 2025.
With an expected closing date in the semi-near future, finer details should come out soon. When we have them, we'll share more information about what the airlines plan to do with their loyalty programs and what that means for your Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles accounts.
Final Thoughts
As the next step in the merger process, Hawaiian Airlines Holdings put the Alaska Airlines acquisition up for shareholder vote. And by a wide margin, shareholders approved the acquisition, which means the two airlines are a step closer to closing the merger, which is expected to happen before June 2025. The next steps involve government approval at this point.
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