Alaska Airlines To Buy Virgin America For $2.6 Billion

Published April 4, 2016 at 1:33 PM EDT

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A view of the Virgin America headquarters on March 29, 2016 in Burlingame, California. JetBlue Airways and Alaska Air Group are reportedly preparing takeover offer bids for Virgin America airlines. (Justin Sullivan/Getty IA view of the Virgin America headquarters on March 29, 2016 in Burlingame, California. JetBlue Airways and Alaska Air Group are reportedly preparing takeover offer bids for Virgin America airlines. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Alaska Airlines said today that it has reached an agreement to buy Virgin America for $2.6 billion, creating the fifth largest airline in the country.

The deal comes after a bidding war with JetBlue Airways, and it still has to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson looks at what the deal means for Alaska Airlines and for travelers, with Curt Nickisch, senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

Guest

Curt Nickisch, senior editor at Harvard Business Review. He tweets @CurtNickisch.