It would be costly to repaint and reconfigure Spirit’s yellow planes to the JetBlue look outside and more spacious conditions inside. JetBlue would likely boost pay and benefits of Spirit employees to the level of JetBlue. Combining different work groups, fleets and technology systems can lead to hiccups. Still, a JetBlue deal does appear more problematic, in part because the Justice Department is already suing to break up a regional partnership in the Northeast between JetBlue and American Airlines.Īirline mergers can be messy. Some analysts said that the small size of Frontier and Spirit would have earned them a pass from antitrust regulators in previous administrations, but not any more. On Wednesday, CEO Barry Biffle said he was disappointed in the outcome, but that the Frontier board had taken “a disciplined approach” to merger negotiations. JetBlue issued a statement saying it was pleased that the Frontier deal was terminated and it was talking to Spirit about negotiating an agreement as soon as possible.įrontier signaled two weeks ago that it would not increase its bid, which was worth more than $2.6 billion in stock and cash - less than JetBlue’s all-cash offer of $3.7 billion. “The Spirit board of directors will continue our ongoing discussions with JetBlue as we pursue the best path forward for Spirit and our stockholders,” he said in a statement. Spirit CEO Ted Christie said he was disappointed to drop the merger with Frontier. It was apparent that despite the support of Spirit’s board, shareholders were prepared to reject the deal and seek a richer one from JetBlue.
The decision by Spirit and Frontier to terminate their deal was announced while Spirit shareholders were still voting on the proposal. Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines agreed Wednesday to abandon their merger proposal, opening the way for JetBlue Airways to acquire Spirit after a months-long bidding war for the budget carrier.