Most of the time, however, mergers that seem bad really are bad. It is in neither the investors’ nor JetBlue’s management’s interests to pick a fight with the big guys. There was a time, back at the turn of the century, when JetBlue was a genuinely innovative airline. In 2014, Wall Street analysts turned on JetBlue and its chief executive at the time, Mr. Barger, accusing the company of being too consumer-focused. Unfortunately for customers, Wall Street won, Mr. Barger was thrown out and JetBlue started charging fees for all sorts of things.

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Persons: David Neeleman, David Barger, Barger Organizations: Ticketmaster, Sprint, Mobile, Instagram, Facebook, JetBlue, United, Wall Street, Investors Locations: United States, Delta, United