The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block JetBlue Airways' proposed $3.8B acquisition of Spirit Airlines, noting the deal would stifle competition and make airfare costlier for consumers.
The DOJ said the merger between the two airlines would eliminate the nation's largest budget airline competitor to major carriers.
- On Monday, JetBlue said it expected the DOJ to file an antitrust lawsuit this week to the deal and was prepared to fight it.
- The airline said it accounted for the possibility of a lawsuit when it set the timeline to complete the deal for H1 2024.
- U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the deal would limit choices and drive up ticket prices for passengers across the country if allowed to close.
- The lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts federal court.
- Washington D.C., New York, and Massachusetts joined the suit.
- If allowed to close, the JetBlue-Spirit merger would create the fifth largest airline in the U.S. after American, United, Delta, and Southwest.
- Those four together account for roughly 80% of the airline market in the U.S.
