NEW YORK, July 29 ― JetBlue Airways plans to acquire low-price carrier Spirit Airlines for US$3.8 billion , the companies announced yesterday, in what would establish the fifth largest US airline.
“By enabling JetBlue to grow faster, we can go head-to-head with the legacies in more places to lower fares and improve service for everyone. Even combined with Spirit, JetBlue will still be significantly smaller than the Big Four.” In the wake of JetBlue's challenge to the Spirit-Frontier deal, Spirit leaders, including Chief Executive Ted Christie, had depicted the JetBlue transaction as a risky bet in light of antitrust concerns, as they continued to advocate for the Frontier tie-up.