Alaska Airlines Completes Virgin American Deal.
QUEST: In the air, it's a combination of the old and the new. Alaska Airlines has now completed its $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America. It sounds straightforward enough but what is going to happen is a clash of cultures that might work like some other unlikely combinations these days. Take for example bacon and doughnuts, now bacon and doughnuts might sound like a disgusting mix by some people. But other people swear by the idea of having one following the other at breakfast. Or you could have salt and creamy caramel now I know lots of people who adore that particular combination. It sounds like a culture clash but it is a foodie phenomenon that you could have salted caramel. Both salted caramel and bacon doughnuts are on the menu of passengers of the new airline on Wednesday. It was the company's own way of admitting that the two airlines are an unlikely combination. The merger is creating the fifth largest airline in the U.S. that is a long way to go to catch up with the four, the top ones which control 84 percent of the market. Alaska Airlines chief executive Bradley Tilden told Maggie Lake deal will help expand the company's reach.</s>BRADLEY TILDEN, CEO, ALASKA AIRLINES: What this merger will do is it will bring together Alaska, and we fly over the country but we are really strong in the Pacific Northwest and the state of Alaska. It will bring us together with Virgin America and they are really strong in California. So, we will have an airline with a national footprint we will fly all over the country but we will be a very good airline for anyone who lives anywhere up and down the West Coast. And both airlines are well known for low fares and for customer service and we are really excited about all the great things that we are really going to bring to our customers.</s>MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you think that you're going to be able to marry these two cultures? Because you are right both airlines are known for being very cost-effective but Virgin also has the sort of fun lively culture around it, the in-flight experience, entertainment, some of the visuals. Is that going to stay, are you going to adopt that or are we going to gradually morph more to the Alaska?</s>TILDEN: I think that is a really, really good question. And what I would say is that what we have in common is both airlines are really focused on customers, both airlines do a terrific job with customers. And both airlines are also really focused on our employees, we both have a mentality of that we are going to win together working with our employees. And sort of putting them in the position so they will deliver great service to our customers. You are right Alaska is probably more what we would say is sort of genuine and caring service, Virgin a little bit more hip and more flair. And we will be working to merge sauce. And to answer your question directly I think we do want to move the company a little bit towards the really special culture that Virgin has created while maintaining the great things that Alaska is known for.</s>LAKE: So, where do you see the growth opportunity? You mentioned that your desire is to sort of be a power house in the West, are you going to really refine that and try to own that. Or would you look to expand beyond that?</s>TILDEN: So, with the merger we will actually have 1200 daily flights. We will have almost 300 airplanes. We will fly to almost 300 city pairs. Certainly, anything that we can grow in Seattle and Portland and Anchorage will always do that. We've always done that but we will have a lot of additional growth opportunities in the state of California. In that market, there is 39 million people, the size of that market is three times the size of Alaska, Washington and Oregon combined. So, that is a terrific opportunity for the company to grow. It is something that we will be a little girl for many, many years going forward.</s>LAKE: But we are looking at a situation where oil prices are creeping back. If OPEC has its way they want them to keep going north of $50. Does that present a challenge now?</s>TILDEN: The airline business always has something. Whether it is the economy or oil prices or what have you, you always have to compete. In our mentality is that we are out there competing against some really good airlines. We have just got to be the best airline that we can be. And we sort of believe that industry conditions are better and if we are competing in this industry and doing as good as we can, and leading the industry and whether it is on-time performance or customer service or low fares or our cost structure, we think we would be good. And we think our investors will be good. But you are right we don't know which economy is going to throw at us. We do not know what fuel prices are going to be. But our job is to do as good as we can no matter what hand we are dealt.</s>QUEST: CEO of Alaska which now owns Virgin America. The website Ashley Madison admits it cheated customers who wanted to cheat on their spouses. What more can one say? Except a highlight from the Make Create Innovate.