Florida-based Spirit Airlines said its shareholders voted Wednesday to approve the airline’s $3.8 billion sale to New York-based JetBlue Airways, clearing the next step in a long road to combine the two airlines.
Discount airline Spirit and JetBlue now face an arduous regulatory approval examination by the Justice Department, which analysts say will be an uphill battle to create the nation’s fifth-largest airline. The Biden administration has warned overall that it would closely scrutinize proposed airline mergers and acquisitions.
Air travelers won’t see any changes as regulators analyze what effects uniting these two airlines would have on the airline marketplace, a process expected to take up to two years. In the meantime, Spirit and JetBlue will keep flying as separate airlines.
