Alaska Air, Virgin Make Case For $2.6B Merger

The Justice Department last week heard arguments from Alaska Air Group and Virgin America in defense of their proposed $2.6 billion merger, an indication that negotiations are in their final stages. “Such top-level meetings usually signal that the antitrust division has worries about a merger that could lead to a lawsuit to block it,” the Seattle Times reports. Alaska announced in April that it had come to an agreement to buy Virgin America. If approved, the merger would shrink the number of carriers in the U.S. airline industry to just four operators controlling 80 percent of the market. The Justice Department sued to block U.S. Airways Group’s takeover of American Airlines in 2013, but ultimately the carriers agreed to sell airport assets to low-fare competitors.