On January 31, 2024, a JetBlue Airways plane was parked at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. The CEOs of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines announced on Monday that they are terminating their merger agreement. This decision comes after they lost a federal antitrust lawsuit challenging the deal. The CEOs cited regulatory hurdles as the reason for ending the merger agreement.
In January, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Justice Department and blocked JetBlue’s attempted takeover of Spirit. The judge expressed concerns that the takeover would negatively impact cost-conscious travelers who rely on Spirit’s low fares. Despite the airlines’ argument that they needed to merge to compete with larger carriers dominating the U.S. market, the judge’s decision stood.
JetBlue and Spirit had appealed the judge’s decision, but JetBlue clarified that the appeal was a requirement under the terms of the merger agreement. Analysts had anticipated…
Source from www.cnbc.com