Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) has cleared a big hurdle in its effort to acquire Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ: HA), and the target's stock is taking off as a result.

Shares of Hawaiian traded up 11% on Tuesday morning after the U.S. Department of Justice said it would not challenge the $1.9 billion deal.

Alaska agreed to acquire Hawaiian last December, but that agreement by no means made the merger a foregone conclusion. Regulators have been taking an increasingly skeptical view of airline consolidation. Earlier this year, the Justice Department successfully stopped JetBlue Airways from acquiring Spirit Airlines.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com