Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
I'm sure there will be changes, but when Alaska took over VX, they didn't promise the governors and senators of California and New York, as well as the federal government, that they wouldn't shrink or remove the operations there. I would kind of guess that if they ever want another federal approval of anything, they will at least make a good faith effort to minimize any damage.
I know you know this. HAL can’t pull off what it’s doing in HNL with its current size. Not enough intl Asia, demand still not pre-Covid, and losses continue. Nor is AS buying them to leave HNL its current size. You know widebodies are headed to SEA and HNL will be right-sized. Whatever that size is. And 4 fleets? Good luck.
HNL is headed for less airframes and manpower. That is gonna happen regardless. Far better to have it happen as an AS merger than a HAL bankruptcy, which would have been guaranteed if this merger fell apart.