Did Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg Doom the JetBlue, Spirit Airlines Merger in 2022?
Spirit said a recent surge in fuel prices and years of losses left it with no alternative after a failed $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue.
- Spirit Airlines began an orderly wind-down of operations on May 2, citing a 'sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks' as the primary reason for shutting down operations.
- The collapse follows the 2024 failure of a proposed $3.6 billion merger with JetBlue, which a federal judge blocked after the Justice Department argued the deal would harm consumers.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized the Biden administration's opposition to the deal, claiming 'if JetBlue had merged with Spirit, we would have all these jobs that were lost yesterday.'
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren defended the antitrust intervention, calling 'spiking fuel prices from Trump's war' the 'nail in the coffin' for Spirit rather than the failed merger deal.
- Thousands of employees and travelers face immediate disruptions as Secretary Duffy stated the Department of Transportation is monitoring the situation following the airline's total cessation of service.
32 Articles
32 Articles
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Democrats deserve some blame for Spirit Airlines' downfall
In the wake of crippling jet fuel costs, Spirit Airlines has gone out of business, disrupting passengers’ travel plans, leaving 15,000 employees facing uncertainty and creating a major void in the budget travel market.
I litigated the JetBlue-Spirit merger. A few thoughts on the future of antitrust in the airline industry
Spirit Airlines’ collapse, like its launch more than three decades ago, will impact consumers and the airline industry—and the Antitrust Division’s airline-enforcement program—for years to come. Spirit’s limited leg space and ancillary fees sparked endless complaints and memes. But each time Spirit marketed a low fare, it changed the competitive dynamics on the routes it served. Sometimes, consumers—like the student traveling to her friend’s bac…
Glenn Beck: Spirit Airlines is gone — and Democrats helped kill it
While progressives claim the Spirit Airlines collapse was good for consumers, Glenn Beck and Carol Roth argue the exact opposite happened: Regulators strangled a struggling company’s lifeline and handed even more market power to the major airlines.“Spirit Airlines is out, and Elizabeth Warren, when she announced this with Joe Biden — that they weren’t going to merge with JetBlue — she said that’s a ‘win’ for the Republic and win for Biden."“It’s…
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