Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Faces a Justice Department Wary of Airline Combos

Alaska Air Group CEO Ben Minicucci gave an eerily familiar line when asked about his view on U.S. government approval of the carrier's proposed $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines.

“I think this is a pro-consumer combination," he told analysts Sunday. "It’s pro-competitive, it makes us larger to compete against the Big Four [American, Delta, Southwest, and United] … So we’re hopeful it will be seen in a positive light.”

Sound familiar? It's almost identical to the case made by JetBlue Airways CEO Robin Hayes when he was bidding for Spirit Airlines last year. "The combination of JetBlue and Spirit would [benefit] competition by creating the fifth-largest domestic airline," Hayes said that April.

We all know how the JetBlue-Spirit story went. The U.S. Justice Department challenged the $3.8 billion merger in April. The trial in the regulator's suit to block the combination is underway in Boston and expected to wrap soon. Then the industry waits for a judge's opinion.

Alaska and Hawaiian have yet not discussed their proposed deal, unveiled publicly Sunday, with the government, said Minicucci.

The Biden Justice Department has taken a tough stance against conso