Investing.com --Representatives from both Alaska Air Group Inc (NYSE:ALK) and Virgin America Inc (NASDAQ:VA) confirmed on Monday that each carrier has received a request for additional information from the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division stemming from the airliners' merger last month.
Both carriers said Monday that they have cooperated fully with federal antitrust regulators since the announcement of Alaska Air's proposed $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin Airlines on April 4. As part of the review, the so-called "second request," from the Justice Department extends the period that the parties must wait to close the transaction, until 30 days after Alaska and Virgin America have complied with the information request. The proposed merger will also be subject to approval of Virgin America's shareholders along with other customary closing conditions, including the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
"The two airlines are confident that they will obtain regulatory approval and complete their pro-competitive and pro-consumer transaction no later than January 1, 2017," Alaska Air and Virgin America said in a joint statement.
Over the last year, Alaska Air has spent more than $100 million on improving its on-board product, according to the carrier's website, including the addition of Virgin America's in-flight entertainment in passenger seatbacks. Alaska Air has also made assurances that there will be no disruptions to customers' Elevate or mileage redemption plans if the merger is eventually completed. In total, the new airlines plans to offer more than 1,200 daily departures to 114 destinations across North and Central America once the merger comes to fruition.
In other industry news, American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) announced plans on Monday to retire a pair of older aircrafts from its fleet. American Airlines, which currently takes delivery of a new plane every seven days on average, will phase out 20 Brazilian Embraer E190s and nine Airbus A 330-300s, which it received from US Airways.
Shares in Alaska Air inched up 0.02 or 0.03% to 66.29 in after-hours. Trading in Virgin America was inactive in the after-hours session. Virgin America closed on Monday at 55.53, up 0.07 or 0.13% on the session.