The CE of Alaska Airlines, Ben Minicucci, has big plans. Now, he has a second airline to help achieve them. Alaska completed its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday, the first major airline deal since 2016, when Alaska bought Virgin America. The purchase gives the airline access to more airports, planes and customers, which could accelerate Alaska’s growth, including by adding larger, wide-body jets to its fleet that can fly longer distances. “We saw the potential of us becoming a wide-body operator, being able to offer international flights, potentially in the future out of Seattle — there was so much to like,” Mr. Minicucci said in an interview with The New York Times before the deal closed. “This is something that makes sense for the future of Alaska.” Airline mergers are notoriously difficult and have often wreaked financial and operational havoc on the companies that have attempted them. The merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines in 2010 created problems for years, disrupting flights and frustrating passengers and employees. The industry is also quite consolidated. Four carriers dominate commercial aviation in the United States, and it’s not clear whether the acquisition will help Alaska, which will remain the fifth-largest airline, to break through to the industry’s big leagues, a feat only a few small airlines have managed. “We remain cautious about medium-term execution risk,” Savanthi Syth, an airline analyst at Raymond James, wrote in a research note about Alaska last month, citing concerns about economic conditions, weak earnings at Hawaiian Airlines and the complexity of merging the airlines.<br/>
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Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the airline has seen "significant improvement" at troubled planemaker Boeing in recent months after a door plug missing key bolts blew off one of the carrier's new 737 MAX 9 jets at 16,000 feet in January. "We saw a lot of significant improvement in the last few months," Minicucci said in an interview, adding that he spoke recently to new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and praised him as a seasoned aerospace veteran who "has identified the problems at Boeing that need to be fixed." Minicucci added Boeing still has more to do to make quality and safety improvements. "There's still a long road, and it's not a road that's going to be done in the next few months. This is a road that's several years in the making," Minicucci said. "We're not stopping our focus and attention on holding Boeing accountable to the highest levels of accountability and quality." Alaska Airlines, which is getting its 12th airplane in 2024 from Boeing this week, has stepped up oversight of new planes and has its own staff at the factory auditing production. Minicucci also said he does not expect to receive 737 MAX 10 airplanes until at least mid-2026. The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to certify either the MAX 7 or MAX 10 variants. The MAX 7 certification has been delayed as the planemaker works to address an engine anti-ice system. Boeing, which has said the MAX 7 must be certified before it can get the larger 10 approved, has said it settled on a fix for the issue that could lead to overheating and potentially cause an engine failure. Minicucci said he did not think a strike by about 30,000 Boeing machinists in Washington state and Oregon would have a significant impact on Alaska's operations unless it is "excessively long."<br/>
Qantas has swooped on the Tokyo (Haneda) capacity vacated by Virgin, with plans for three daily A330-300 flights from Australia’s east coast. The Flying Kangaroo, which currently operates two daily Sydney–Haneda services, is looking to fly once each per day from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from 30 March next year, while maintaining connections to Tokyo’s other major international airport at Narita. Qantas has applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) for the seats, which are set to be freed up when Virgin Australia ends its daily Cairns-Haneda service on 24 February next year. It currently flies daily from Melbourne and Brisbane to Narita in addition to its Sydney-Haneda route. “It is anticipated that a third daily service will commence with an Airbus A330 aircraft configured with 297 seats,” wrote Qantas’ executive manager for policy, industry and international affairs, Anna Pritchard, in the airline’s application to the IASC. “It is planned that Qantas will serve Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to/from Tokyo-Haneda with the addition of a third daily service.” Virgin announced earlier this year that it would end its low-performing Cairns-Haneda service despite it only having launched last June, with its 737 MAX 8s being reassigned to domestic routes. The route was the second-worst for capacity in Virgin’s international network; unlike most of the airline’s international services, the route relied heavily on inbound travel, which turned out below its forecasts and was weighed down by a weak yen against the Australian dollar.<br/>