The Justice Department on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against JetBlue Airways’ proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines — a merger that would create the fifth-largest U.S. airline.
The two airlines struck a deal in 2022 after Frontier Airlines’ attempt to acquire the Florida-based low-fare airline Spirit fell through. New York-based JetBlue has touted the merger as a “low-fare challenger to the Big Four airlines that dominate our industry,” alluding to United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
According to JetBlue data, the combined airline would have about 9 percent market share, compared to about 16 to 24 percent for each of the four largest airlines.
