JetBlue Airways expects the DOJ to file an antitrust lawsuit this week to block its planned $3.8B acquisition of budget airline Spirit Airlines.
JetBlue said it accounted for the possibility of a lawsuit when it set the timeline to complete the deal for H1 2024.
- The Transportation Department is also reviewing the planned merger and is expected to file a lawsuit to block the deal.
- Last year, JetBlue beat out Frontier Airlines in a months-long bidding war to merge with Spirit Airlines.
- JetBlue said it plans to fight any lawsuit from the government aimed at blocking the deal with Spirit.
- JetBlue is awaiting the outcome of a DOJ lawsuit seeking to break its Northeast Alliance with American Airlines.
- If
the JetBlue-Spirit deal closes, it will create the fifth largest
airline in the U.S. after American, United, Delta, and Southwest.
