The following is the transcript of a television segment discussing the pending acquisition (the
Transaction) of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (Hawaiian Holdings) by Alaska Air Group, Inc. (Alaska) posted to the Transaction website on December 26, 2023.
CNBC: Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines CEOs break down $1.9 billion cash merger
Air date: December 4, 2023
Speakers:
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Phil LeBeau CNBC auto and airline industry reporter |
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Peter Ingram President and CEO of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. |
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Ben Minicucci President and CEO of Alaska Airlines |
Phil LeBeau: Hey Carl, lets say aloha to Ben Minicucci, CEO of Alaska Airlines, and Peter Ingram, the CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, joining us from
Honolulu this morning. Guys, how long were you talking about a possible merger and how quickly did this deal come together? Ben, well start with you.
Ben Minicucci: Thanks Phil and good morning. Yeah you know we were talking about this early in 2023. You know the idea started you know we started
working on it. And we went through several months of diligence with our Board and advisors and I approached Peter a few months ago with the offer. Thats how it kind of unfolded.
Phil LeBeau: And Peter?
Peter Ingram: Yeah you
know as Ben said, he came to me a few months ago. We
we took the initial proposal. It was certainly a credible proposal and I, you know did what I should do which is take it to my Board. We analyzed it, worked through it, and weve spent
some time over the last few months working with Ben and his team and it culminated in yesterdays announcement and signing the day before that.
Phil LeBeau: Ben, you know what everybodys saying whos looking at this deal today. The Biden administration has made it clear it is not
crazy about airline mergers. We know what is going on between JetBlue and Spirit right now, thats playing out in court. How do you convince the Biden administration, the DOJ, that this deal, that Alaska and Hawaiian, makes sense?
Ben Minicucci: You know Phil, I think you know on the merits of this deal, is simply, it is pro-consumer and pro-competitive. When you combine both these networks, well have about 1,400 flights a day. Only 12 out of those 1,400 flights is where we have overlap. And then, you have expanded domestic platform, an
expanded international platform, for our customers on the West Coast and for our residents in Hawaii. So, if you think of someone living in Honolulu, they will have three times the options and destinations to fly out of out of Honolulu than
they do today. So, this is definitely pro-consumer and then when you think about that expanded domestic footprint, that expanded international footprint, we will become a bigger, stronger carrier to compete
against the Big Four that control 80 percent of the domestic market share. So, we feel that we check both of those boxes and were hopeful that it will be seen in a positive light.