Federal Judge Blocks JetBlue-Spirit Merger
A federal judge sided with the Justice Department today and blocked JetBlue Airway’ purchase of Spirit Airlines, as reported by WSJ.
The court’s decision follows a 17-day trial that began in October 2023. In March 2023, the Justice Department, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New, Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia sued to stop the merger under Section 7 of the Clayton Act.
The Justice Department had sued to stop the merger, saying the $3.8 billion deal would eliminate a competitor that is important to price-conscious travelers. The Justice Department said JetBlue’s purchase of Spirit would remove an ultra-low-cost carrier that benefits travelers and puts pressure on other airlines to keep down fares.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for tens of millions of travelers who would have faced higher fares and fewer choices had the proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit been allowed to move forward,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland i a press release. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce the nation’s antitrust laws to protect American consumers. I want to thank the Antitrust Division for their excellent work on this case.”
JetBlue and Spirit said in a joint statement that they disagreed with the ruling and were evaluating next steps.
“We continue to believe that our combination is the best opportunity to increase much needed competition and choice by bringing low fares and great service to more customers in more markets while enhancing our ability to compete with the dominant U.S. carriers,” the companies said in a joint statement. “JetBlue’s termination of the Northeast Alliance and commitment to significant divestitures have removed any reasonable anti-competitive concerns that the Department of Justice raised. We are reviewing the court’s decision and are evaluating our next steps as part of the legal process.”
The merger would have produced the country’s fifth-largest airline, a deal JetBlue said would help them better grow and compete against the four largest domestic airlines.
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a sad day for US aviation. The Biden Administration think it knows what’s best for you.