Spirit Blunders in Spurning JetBlue for Lower Offer
It may be right that its initial deal with Frontier has a greater chance to pass regulatory muster, but the airline could have at least extracted some more money.
A Spirit-Frontier deal is not a slam dunk with regulators.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
An airline bidding war appears to be over before it even really started.
Spirit Airlines Inc. said on Monday that it was sticking with the initial deal it agreed to with ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Group Holdings Inc. in February and turning down a higher bid from JetBlue Airways Corp. Even after JetBlue offered to make certain divestitures and pay a $200 million fee if antitrust authorities rejected the transaction, Spirit said a tie-up with the carrier “involves an unacceptable level of closing risk” because of expected regulatory challenges. Spirit took particular issue with a marketing alliance between JetBlue and American Airlines Group Inc. that started in 2021 — an arrangement that the Department of Justice is suing to block on antitrust grounds.