Update: It seems nothing is going right for JetBlue these days. Spirit has rejected their merger offer and plans to move forward with their Frontier merger. JetBlue says it is not giving up on the merger and will try to win over Spirit shareholders.
JetBlue has made an offer to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.6 billion.
The offer comes 2 months after Frontier offered to merge with Spirit, with Frontier controlling 51.5% of the merged airline.
Spirit’s board will have to decide which path they want to go down.
Earlier this year, JetBlue was ranked by the WSJ as the worst airline and Spirit was ranked as the 2nd worst airline in the US by overall 2021 performance:
JetBlue and Spirit have gone through a number of operational meltdowns of the past several years and they are both just starting to climb out of another meltdown that started this past weekend and continues through today, with thousands of delayed and cancelled flights between the 2 airlines.
Over the past couple years JetBlue has gone downhill with operations and policies in a race to the bottom. They introduced the harshest basic economy class in the industry, with no free carry-on bag or pre-boarding even if you have their credit card. But to their credit, JetBlue does still offer free live TV, WiFi, and much better seat pitch than Frontier and Spirit.
I always Say, Friends Don’t Let Friends Fly Spirit. But I guess JetBlue doesn’t want to get left behind and become irrelevantly small if Spirit and Frontier are to merge.
No matter what Spirit decides, the merger will have to clear regulatory hurdles, but given that Delta, American, United, Southwest, and Alaska have all gone through recent mergers, it would be surprising if the merger was rejected. Then again, regulators may feel that they have approved too many airline mergers, which have caused higher prices and less meaningful market competition. The DOJ under the Biden administration has also acted more aggressively against airline partnerships, challenging previous approval for American-JetBlue Northeast cooperation, so we’ll have to see if they will challenge future mergers as well.
Spirit will likely ask Frontier or JetBlue to guarantee that the merger will clear antitrust hurdles or pay Spirit a penalty if it’s denied.
What do you think of the merger news? Do you think JetBlue will become even more like Spirit or will Spirit become more like JetBlue. Will Frontier sweeten their offer for Spirit? Will Spirit opt for Frontier or JetBlue?
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39 Comments On "[Spirit Rejects JetBlue Bid] JetBlue Makes Offer To Buy Spirit And Create An Airline That Will Never Get You To Your Destination On Time"
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Late April Fool’s post?
If only.
My first thought was “it’s a little late for Purim Torah”
You, @zow, and I clearly need another DO at Lenny’s. 😀
🙂
Over the last few years JetBlue has already shown that it’s Spirit in spirit.
The only thing they still have going for them is their seat pitch, which I guess will shrink when they merge.
Seat pitch has gone down of later as well. But you’re probably right that it will go down further if they merge.
So sad! Jetblue was once a great airline.
It was in the David Neeleman days. But they dumped him and he’s back with Breeze, which should be a real disruptor once they scale.
I can’t wait until they fly from an airport near where I live.
Rofl. Just from the title. Didn’t even read the post yet. But I probably won’t be laughing after I do.
What would the merged company be called? Spew?
Hermione would be proud.
Nice one!
Jet Blue-it
On Frontier recently…now not even snacks or drink offered…purchase by cc/debit only AND attendant asked for tip, then adds “if you pay me tip in cash even better, I don’t have to pay taxes on it!.
Passenger next to me and I looked at each other mouth agape while in total shock each gave him few dollars in tip. Delayed reaction set in later…Unbelievable…and weird!
But Frontier (and Spirit) have never offered free drinks or snacks (if that’s what you’re referring to); they’ve always sold those.
The request for a tip is certainly strange though.
Was on Frontier in Jan out of Stewart Airport in NY and specifically remember getting a drink & snack, asked my husband to confirm and he said yes, he clearly remembers also, although, he did mention, it was when Frontier had just started flying that route from SWF-Tampa, so maybe it was a limited time treat, who knows!
This past week was definitely strange and off putting with the tip thing though!
Definitely a race to the bottom!
I flew Spirit for the first time lately (it was the only flight at that time…), I was disgusted, Matzah thin plastic seats without an option to recline, horrible is an understatement.
What’s the reason for these delays now?
“JetBlue Makes Offer To Buy Spirit And Create An Airline That Will Never Get You To Your Destination”
FTFY
Curious if the AA partnership would survive post merger.
Love your headline.
I think it’s time for Elon Musk to start an airline
JetBlue Airways made a $3.6 billion all-cash offer for Spirit Airlines. is spirit really worth 3.6 billion?
Over the past few years, it’s been harder and harder to really tell the difference between Spirit and Jet Blue. What a drop for Jetblue!
It wasn’t that long ago that JetBlue had a very good on time performance. They also had good friendly service and snacks and were far ahead of Spirit as far as flying experience went.
Given that jet blue has become / is becoming a low quality airline, wbat do folks recommend for domestic? Delta? Who are ppl investing loyalty with?
I will drop my JetBlue Plus card if they merge with spirit, I will be embarrassed to show my JetBlue card if it’s in anyway shape or form associated with spirit
Unless I’m mistaken several years ago the CEO of Jetblue was replaced by the Ceo who used to run Spirit. That explains everything in regard to the decline of services and quality. They killed their own airline with that move.
Dan, I haven’t flown Jet Blue in years. Are you really saying it won’t be much of an improvement over Spirit? I like to fly out of Atlantic City to Ft Lauderdale or Miami. Spirit is the only airline that does that. It is quite an amazing experience if all goes well. So easy to park at the AC airport and walk into the terminal. It’s has the feel of parking at a mall and walking into the stores. Fees for overnight parking are among the lowest I’ve seen at an Airport. Low volume airport with short lines. Board the plane, and you’re in the air in 10 mins, instead of taxiing around the airport for 45 mins waiting to takeoff like at Newark Airport. I wonder if the atlantic city routes will be preserved after any merger.
I remember hearing an interview with the former CEO of Spirit and he noted how if you asked the other airlines which retail store they were most like, they’d probably all claim Nordstrom. But they don’t live up to that. “But Spirit, we don’t claim to be Nordstrom. We’re like Dollar General. We aren’t claiming to have the best service, but we’ve got fair prices.” I admired his willingness to say this.
I’ve flown spirit a few times recently. They are definitely not a pleasure to fly, but I haven’t had any major problems and they’ve gotten me where I need to go (reasonably) on-time. When I used to fly solo, I cared more about the seats and the experience. Now that I usually fly with young kids, the only thing I care about is getting from point A to B without any meltdowns. Travelling is so bad anyway, that a seat that leans back a little bit really doesn’t make the experience much better for me!
Believe or not this goodbye very good for Jerblue. This merger would give it landing spots that it is missing. I personally still fly JetBlue and will continue. They will turn it around. Covid did a number to all the airlines
Actually they will have to give up on a lot of space and slots in NYC and FLL to get this approved.
They will probably even have to give up on the AA alliance to get approval.
Is it possible that in a decade or two, we are left with 2 or 3 total domestic carriers in the US?
Bring back People Express Airlines!
Not likely to affect me. after a post Pesach fiasco i said never again. The issue was weather related delays which might happen to any carrier. The breaking point was when, in order to announce a longer delay, JetBlue brought palm Beach Police to stand by. The female officer held her gun out of holster which is a huge NO-No. Any airline that uses police to cover their mess is an airline one should avoid.
PS. I later filed a serious FAA complaint about the seatbelt self opening. The outcome was that the FAA asked JetBlue to verify if the seat belt was working, lol. I assure you it was sliding and not secure but the FAA reported that their appointed representative (JetBlue maintenance said it was working after repair).
JetBlue has a bad case of Schizophrenia
Mint & Neo Mint on one end and
worse Then spirit on the other end