JetBlue and Spirit Officially End Merger — How It Affects Travelers

05.03.2024 - 16:50 / travelandleisure.com / Katy Nastro / Joanna Geraghty / Ted Christie

JetBlue and Spirit Airlines officially ended their merger plans on Monday, weeks after a federal judge blocked the effort. 

“We believed this merger was worth pursuing because it would have unleashed a national low-fare, high-value competitor to the Big Four airlines,” Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We are proud of the work we did with Spirit to lay out a vision to challenge the status quo, but given the hurdles to closing that remain, we decided together that both airlines’ interests are better served by moving forward independently. We wish the very best going forward to the entire Spirit team.”

JetBlue first announced its plans to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion in 2022 in a move that would have made it the fifth largest airline in the United States. But in January, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled the merger was unlawful because it violated antitrust laws. 

Both airlines initially pledged to appeal the decision, but on Monday decided to drop that effort, citing the fact that “required closing conditions, including receiving necessary legal and regulatory approvals, were unlikely to be met by the merger agreement’s outside date of July 24, 2024.”

As part of the agreement to terminate the merger, JetBlue will pay Spirit $69 million.

Ted Christie, Spirit's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement the airline was “disappointed” but added “we remain confident in our future as a successful independent airline.”

This isn’t the first time JetBlue has come under fire for anti-trust issues: a U.S. judge similarly ordered JetBlue and American Airlines to end their alliance last year, which JetBlue subsequently decided not to appeal.

The decision to end the merger between JetBlue and Spirit may actually be good news for travelers, Katy Nastro, a travel expert with Going.com, said in a statement shared with Travel + Leisure. That’s because less competition tends to lead to more expensive flights. 

“Even if consumers don't fly on low-cost carriers like Spirit, they help to keep fares lower by putting pressure on the legacy carriers,” Nastro said. “Cheap flight lovers across the board can breathe a bit easier knowing competition is here to stay."