JetBlue's Purchase of Spirit Could Mean the End of Cheap Flights for Certain Routes

M.C. Millman

Lawyers are suing JetBlue Airways to prevent the airline from buying the nation's largest discount airline, Spirit. 

In July of last year, JetBlue won a bidding war to purchase Spirit for $3.8 billion. The Biden administration sued to block the purchase, saying it would reduce competition and increase fare prices. 

Last week, court filing estimations from the plaintiff's council said that some routes could increase by 40% if JetBlue successfully eliminates its cheaper competitor. The filings had improper redaction formatting. 

JetBlue says that the numbers were based on an interpretation of evidence, with the facts taken out of context. The airline said in a statement on Thursday that the lawyers "failed to properly redact certain information which, taken out of context, creates a completely inaccurate picture of the facts. We are confident that our merger with Spirit will give a much-needed boost to airline competition in the U.S. and result in more low fares and higher-quality service for customers."

Much to the skepticism of consumer advocates, the airline continues to argue that consumers would benefit from a merger with Spirit by enabling it to compete with other big airlines like United, American, and Delta.