JetBlue says it will end a partnership with American Airlines in the Northeast after losing a court fight over the deal, and will instead focus on salvaging its proposed purchase of Spirit Airlines.
JetBlue Airways said Wednesday that it will not appeal a federal judge's ruling blocking the deal with American.
With its decision, JetBlue said the U.S. Justice Department should reconsider its opposition to a JetBlue-Spirit combination.
The Justice Department sued to block both the JetBlue-American deal and JetBlue's agreement to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion on grounds that they would hurt competition.
The Justice Department won a trial in Boston last fall over the JetBlue-American partnership. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin decided in May that the airlines must end their Northeast Alliance, or NEA, which began in 2021, because it violates U.S. antitrust law.
“Despite our deep conviction in the procompetitive benefits of the NEA, after much consideration, JetBlue has made the difficult decision not to appeal the court’s determination ... and has instead initiated the termination of the NEA, beginning a wind down process that will take place over the coming months,” New York-based JetBlue said in a statement. “We will now turn even more focus to our proposed combination with Spirit.”
Shortly after JetBlue's announcement, American said it respects JetBlue’s decision "to focus on its other antitrust and regulatory challenges," but it will press ahead with its own appeal in the case.
JetBlue's decision to choose a purchase of Spirit over a geographically limited deal with American grew more likely in recent weeks, as JetBlue declined to say whether it would appeal the Northeast Alliance ruling.
While the deal with American helped JetBlue grow in one region of the country, buying Spirit would let JetBlue grow quickly to nearly 10% of the nationwide air-travel market. That would make JetBlue much closer in size to United, Delta, Southwest — and American.
Last month, JetBlue and American asked Judge Sorokin to let them keep selling tickets on each other’s flights, an arrangement called code-sharing, and offering reciprocal frequent-flyer benefits. The judge has not ruled on the request, but those features of the NEA will now go away.
Meanwhile, a trial has been scheduled for October in the Justice Department's lawsuit against the JetBlue-Spirit merger. The government argues that consumers will suffer if Spirit — the nation’s biggest discount airline — is eliminated.
Savanthi Syth, an airline analyst for Raymond James & Associates, said JetBlue’s withdrawal from the deal with American marginally improves its chances to buy Spirit. She said JetBlue could point to the decision — and a conditional agreement to sell Spirit's operation at LaGuardia Airport in New York — as signs that it is trying to ease concerns about reduced competition.
As the Leonardo DiCaprio-backed, pure-play electric vehicle company Polestar plans to close a SPAC IPO with Gores Guggenheim, CEO Thomas Ingenlath talked to Cheddar about how the company positioned itself to be able to go public. With competition tightening in the electric vehicle sector, Ingenlath noted what differentiates his cars from the competitors. "Scandinavian cool design and of course the road to zero emissions is something that we take very, very seriously," he said.
Bitcoin is slowly coming back to life after plunging recently, but everyone's favorite cryptocurrency needs to chart a 77% rally in the next four weeks to reach the widely forecast year-end value of $100,000. Bitcoin was trading more than 0.8% percent lower on Thursday morning, Ethereum was also declining. David Nage, portfolio manager at Arca, joins Cheddar News to talk discuss the market.
Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO of Twitter. In a statement, he says he is leaving because the company is ready to move on from its founders. Twitter's chief technology office Parag Agrawal will take over as CEO. Ian Sherr, editor at large at CNET, joins Cheddar News to talk about the announcement.
Actor Chris Diamantopolous joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" to talk about his new Netflix movie "Red Notice," starring alongside Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot, and the massive success it has seen since its release. Diamantopoulos discussed what it was like stepping into the role of the villain, being able to play a character so different from himself in real life. He also talked about playing a heavy in another hit Netflix production, "True Story," and what it was like working with Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes.
Michelle Holder, president of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and a labor economist at John Jay College joins Cheddar News to discuss the October jobs report.
If your kid was on Santa's "nice list" this year, maybe you're willing to shell out $1,900 for Tesla's new Cyberquad. The automaker's all-electric ATV for children 8 years old and up is available to order now and is expected to begin shipping in two to four weeks.
Grab, a Southeast Asia-based ride sharing, e-wallet, and delivery service, made its public debut on the Nasdaq via SPAC merger. CFO Peter Oey joined Cheddar's Brad Smith to talk about the IPO and why it was an ideal time for the company to go public. Oey noted that while Grab operates in 465 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries, there is still more opportunity to grow and expand while balancing profitability and growth.
Voltus is going public by combining with a special purpose acquisition company, Broadscale Acquisition Corp., in a deal that values the electricity market technology startup at about $1.3 billion dollars. The company aims to deliver less expensive, more reliable, and more sustainable electricity to its more than 600 customers, including Home Depot, Coca-Cola, and Simon Property Group. Gregg Dixon, co-founder and CEO of Voltus and Andrew Shapiro, chairman and CEO of Broadscale Acquisition Corp., joined Cheddar News to discuss the deal.
