The Sunday Star Advertiser had an editorial piece that pretty much said it all....All four County Mayors made a very strong case for the benefits to
the State othat the merger creates....they were strongly in favor of it...for several reasons but one of the strongest was the keeping the Hawaiian brand and the importance
of that to Hawaii....it's a big deal and one of the biggest assets Alaska is getting out of it, and they know it. As far as SWA, they have half the inter island flights of Hawaii and yet they have a 40% lower load factor than HA and the average yield they get from a ticket is 30% lower than HA...that came from Peter Ingram on a Hawaii News Now interview with Howard Dicus. This merger is unique and the DOJ would have to be blind as a bat not to see the benefits that it creates for Hawaii and the overall marketplace...good for Hawaii, good for consumers and no downside.