NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) is going for broke on its attempt to buy Spirit Airlines (SAVE.N).
Eschewing the benefits of what the government branded a “de facto merger” to win Spirit might make sense, however.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Spirit grew capacity nearly 500% since 2010, far outstripping competitors.
JetBlue’s concessions, which include selling Spirit’s operations at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, may not be enough, though.
While the DOJ’s complaint against the merger does lean on harms from the alliance, it also includes Spirit executives warning of risks even without it.
Persons:
Spirit, Jonathan Guilford, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam
Organizations:
YORK, Reuters, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue, Northeast Alliance, ”, U.S . Department of Justice, LaGuardia, Twitter, Thomson
Locations:
New, China