Editorial: Are passengers, airports served by JetBlue-Spirit ruling?

In April 2022, JetBlue Airways decided to make a bid for Spirit Airlines.

The move came after Frontier Airlines attempted a merger. Three months later, Frontier walked away, leaving JetBlue as the only remaining suitor.

This was a big deal, but it left some worried about what it meant going forward.

The U.S. Department of Justice — joined by attorney generals from California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and the District of Columbia — filed a federal antitrust suit in March 2023 to block the $3.8 billion sale. The reason was the competition between the two and the impact on routes for budget travelers.

“By eliminating that competition and further consolidating the United States airlines industry, the proposed transaction will increase fares and reduce choice on routes across the country, raising costs for the flying public and harming cost-conscious fliers most acutely,” a Justice Department news release said when the suit was filed.

On Tuesday, a federal judge agreed, spiking the merger, claiming it was “substantially lessen competition.”

The airlines can appeal the district court’s decision. But in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the concerns of the judge and Justice Department are evident in the lack of information about what the merger would do to local travel and local airports.

Spirit flies out of both Pittsburgh International Airport and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. JetBlue operates service out of Pittsburgh International.

Since 2022, there have been repeated questions about the future of flights from the two locations. Would Spirit continue to operate as Spirit? Would it keep flights at Arnold Palmer? Would both airlines fly out of Pittsburgh, essentially having the newly merged company compete against itself?

There were no answers from the airports. While journalists can often be a bit cynical about replies that speak without really giving information, in this case it was likely that the spokesmen for the airports just didn’t know.

However, Spirit has dropped service from Arnold Palmer to Fort Lauderdale and Tampa while JetBlue continues its flights to both Florida vacation destinations. It’s the kind of move that might be due to post-covid downturns in the travel industry — or could have been a precursor of merger consolidations.

Either way, the change did contribute to a decrease in the Arnold Palmer flights, which were down 40% over an 11-month stretch in 2023 versus 2022.

The judge’s move was made with respect to passengers, but the impact of the merger on airports should also be considered. Both Pittsburgh International and Arnold Palmer are in the midst of building projects. They need to have reliable commitments from their carriers to make plans.

“We have a great relationship with both airlines. We will do whatever is in the best interest of passengers in Western Pennsylvania,” Pittsburgh spokesman Matt Neistein said.

The judge seems to have done the same.