If Spirit goes, the flight market will suffer
Miami: Re (“Feds move to block JetBlue buy of Spirit Airlines,” March 8): The Justice Department is right to sue to stop this merger. Spirit and JetBlue are apples and oranges. Spirit has no first-class like JetBlue has. JetBlue plans to take an average of 30 seats off of all Spirit airplanes (roughly 15,000 seats a day out of the U.S. market), which will result in higher costs for the consumer. This is also not good for tourism.
Due to a shortage of airplanes and pilots, no other ultra-low-cost carrier has enough planes or pilots. JetBlue has said that it is buying Spirit for its planes and pilots. This will also result in higher prices for consumers going from the Northeast to Florida, Texas, Michigan and Nevada, along with other places. Spirit is growing in Newark, with more gates and flight slots that benefit the consumer, which will not happen if the buyout happens.
Since JetBlue’s business model as a low-cost airline means it doesn’t fly into Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach, Latrobe, Pensacola, Manchester, Louisville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis, Oakland, and certain countries, i.e. Nicaragua. When the two airlines are combined, JetBlue will probably pull out of these markets since they are only supported by ultra-low-cost airlines.
This buyout is about taking a strong competitor (Spirit) off the playing field. JetBlue also benefits by acquiring planes and experienced crews in a very tight market for both. This is bad for the public, bad for industry competitiveness and pricing, and bad for the airline industry as a whole.