Jan 16 2024

It’ll be interesting to see how this proceeds, since JetBlue really doesn’t have another game plan. They face tremendous uncertainty, but certainly could succeed with a time-consuming appeal. Their costs grow each and every month that the merger isn’t called off, however.

Better, perhaps, would be to revisit a deal with American Airlines akin to the one American has with Alaska Airlines, involving frequent flyer program reciprocity and codeshares – something the judge in that trial expressly suggested would be legal. They’d continue to return money-losing slots in New York to American. That won’t solve all of their problems but is likely a better path – having a partner in strong financial centers that allows them to double down on their co-brand credit card – than pursuing an acquisition of Spirit that wasn’t great for the airline or investors to begin with.

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