Alaska Air says making 'good progress' on Virgin merger review

Alaska Air Group Inc was making "good progress" in talks with the Justice Department on a planned merger with Virgin America Inc , an Alaska spokeswoman said on Friday. The Seattle-based company had said previously that it would not close its deal with Virgin before Oct. 17, and spokeswoman Bobbie Egan declined to spell out what would happen after that date. Alaska announced its $2.6 billion cash deal for Virgin America in April, which will make it the top carrier on the U.S. West Coast if the m