JetBlue announces a deal to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion
QUEENS, New York -- JetBlue Airways announced on Thursday that it would purchase Spirit Airlines, a combination that would create America’s fifth-largest airline.
The announcement comes a day after Spirit pulled the plug on a deal to merge with Frontier. The merger of Spirit and Frontier was proposed in February, but it never won the full support of Spirit shareholders.
JetBlue has made an all-cash offer of $3.8 billion, significantly more than Frontier offered.
It's not clear yet how the Biden Administration will respond to the proposal since it is calling for more competition in the airline industry.
JetBlue believes its acquisition could make it a national challenger to the four major airlines that now control 80% of U.S. air traffic.
