Alaska Airlines-Virgin America merger clears regulatory hurdle

This week, the merger of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America was cleared by the US government, forming the fifth largest airline in the country.
The US Department of Justice approved the deal and the combined airline will compete with the four largest airlines in the US: Delta, United, American and Southwest. 
The new airline, in the ruling, is required to scale back a codeshare partnership with one of its largest partners, American Airlines, for the deal to go through. In mergers of this so