What’s Wow Air’s Next Move?

Often, when I ask an airline executive about a possible merger, I get a non-answer, or a lukewarm denial. It's part of the corporate dance. But I recently asked Wow Air's CEO, Skuli Mogensen, whether he would be open to merging with Iceland's other airline, Icelandair. The carriers have different models — Icelandair is full-service — and different corporate cultures. But they share the same hub, and while Iceland is a hot tourist destination with a favorable North Atlantic geographic position, Reykjavik may not need two international airlines flying similar routes. “It’s an obvious question,” Mogensen told me at the Aviation Festival in London. “Clearly we could rationalize the network and leverage the situation a lot better — a no-brainer. Will it ever happen? I am not sure.” Wow Air probably needs some change to improve its fortune. While customers often like it for its cheap one-stop transatlantic fares, if not its customer service, Wow is losing money, acco