Tag Archives for merger.
At an investor conference this week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby was asked whether United might buy another airline? “JetBlue is the obvious candidate” and don’t ask me, go ask JetBlue!
The parties are not far off here! Spirit’s creditors are likely better off with some combination, under new management, than with the standalone turnaround plan. I would have assumed they see this and are negotiating for more rather than actually walking away. Yet Spirit’s bondholders indicated they would not extend the NDAs, effectively preventing further negotiations.
Even if you don’t fly the two airlines, Frontier plus Spirit means a stronger airline flying more planes under an ultra low cost carrier model. That’s capacity charging lower fares driving down the prices that United, American and Delta can charge.
Everything is securities fraud? If DOJ sues to block the deal prior to close there will almost certainly be a shareholder lawsuit. Nonetheless, Hawaiian shares haven’t fallen in after-hours trading and remain well north of $17 per share, suggesting an expectation that the deal will still close despite this change in language.
Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines has quietly received Department of Justice approval. After two extensions of the deadline for DOJ to file an anti-trust suit, that looked as though there were ongoing negotiations that would have led to a possible settlement – and DOJ filing an appearance in court in Honolulu in case there wasn’t – the government allowed the time to file to lapse.
Unless there’s another extension, we’ll learn today whether the Department of Justice signs off on an Alaska Airlines – Hawaiian Airlines merger, or files suit against it. The parties have been negotiating feverishly over conditions that Alaska would agree to in order to avoid government opposition. And there’s some suggestion now about what concessions may be demanded.
A deal should be possible, notwithstanding that the Biden administration has opposed most forms of consolidation and cooperation (successfully in the airline industry, less so outside of it).
They need a little more time to get something done – and the parties still seem to think it’s possible – as suggested by another extension this time through the end of Monday.
JetBlue’s consideration of a merger with Alaska Airlines before proceeding with Spirit Airlines, as revealed in an anti-trust trial, raises questions about strategic fits and anti-trust issues, given their respective strongholds on the East and West coasts. The complexities of airline mergers, such as fleet commonality and culture integration, along with the current administration’s stance against mergers, make the JetBlue-Spirit deal contentious, despite potential benefits to competition and market growth.
Spirit Airlines has been expected to merge with Frontier Airlines, in a deal announced two months ago. But today JetBlue stepped in with an offer 40% higher than Frontier’s to acquire Spirit.
Here, JetBlue explains its rationale and its plans to employees in an internal communication that was shared with View From The Wing.
Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have announced that they are merging. Combined they’ll offer 1000 daily flights and serve 145 destinations in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America and the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
This is effectively Frontier taking over Spirit for three reasons.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
