Former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza offers an outlook on the travel industry in the face of pilot shortages and aging technology.
JetBlue Airways Corp. and Spirit Airlines, Inc. are reportedly pushing for a last-minute merger before the Justice Department decides whether to block the deal.
Airline chiefs Robin Hayes and Ted Christie told Politico in a joint interview on Thursday that the deal would mean lower fares for planes.
The couple said they met with the leadership of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division on Wednesday. The Justice Department has been investigating the merger since the summer, and Politico previously reported that it is tending to contest the merger, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JBLU | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. | 8.15 | -0.12 | -1.45% |
| SAVE ON COMPUTER | SPIRIT AIRLINES INC. | 02/19 | +0.08 | +0.42% |
Citing two people familiar with the situation, Politico said Friday that the department isn’t confident Spirit’s removal from the market won’t cause price increases.
BIDEN ADMIN. JETBLUE SPIRIT FUSION BLOCKING PROPOSITION: REPORT
JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 takes off from Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on July 30, 2022. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
The Justice Department has a little over a week to make a final call.
The companies’ argument is that to compete with Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines, they need to merge.
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 37.36 | -0.17 | -0.45% |
| EEL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 15.56 | -0.31 | -1.95% |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 50.21 | -0.37 | -0.73% |
| LUV | Southwest Airlines Co. | 33.57 | -0.07 | -0.21% |
Hayes, JetBlue’s CEO, said that fares are a “function of capacity” and that Spirit flights would inherit JetBlue’s seat configuration — saving customers money because the planes spend more time in the air and less time on the ground would spend. Christie, Spirit’s CEO, said fares could go up on some routes if the merger went right, but that merged companies would have reduced fare costs overall.
A Spirit Airlines plane taxis to a runway during a winter storm at Denver International Airport February 22, 2023 in Denver. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/Getty Images)
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
People with knowledge of the issue said Justice Department officials aren’t convinced the new company won’t be forced to raise prices because of the remote seating.
The US Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, DC, Friday, February 17, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
To address concerns, JetBlue has also offered to sell Spirit’s operations at Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Boston Logan International Airport, as well as five slots at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
Politico noted that Hayes has said multiple times that the companies intend to fight their deal in court if necessary.