Spirit also said it believes the Justice Department and a court "will be very concerned that a higher-cost/higher fare airline would be eliminating a lower-cost/lower fare airline in a combination that would remove about half of the ULCC capacity in the United States."
H. McIntyre Gardner, chairman of the board of Spirit, published a letter to JetBlue saying the deal given "substantial completion risk, we believe JetBlue's economic offer is illusory, and Spirit's board has not found it necessary to consider it." He also says the Justice Department and a court "will be very concerned that a higher-cost/higher fare airline would be eliminating a lower-cost/lower fare airline in a combination that would remove about half of the ULCC capacity in the United States."
JetBlue had already thought it waylayed such concerns by promising to sell off some of the Spirit network in and out of the New York region and release gates and slots at Fort Lauderdale to ensure the competition was fair and open.
It looks like the deal with Frontier will reach a conclusion, despite the lower price and lack of concrete funds or real money, which may mean the combined airline will be facing further financial issues possibly leading to chapter 11 or worse by the end of 2027. Although, an aviation analyst, whose name has been left off the record seems to suggest that Delta is "standing in the wings"....
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