{"id":1578018,"date":"2022-07-29T09:33:54","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T13:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1578018"},"modified":"2022-07-29T09:34:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T13:34:12","slug":"jetblue-strikes-deal-to-buy-spirit-airlines-to-usher-in-new-era-of-godawful-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jetblue-strikes-deal-to-buy-spirit-airlines-to-usher-in-new-era-of-godawful-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"JetBlue Strikes Deal to Buy Spirit Airlines to Usher in New Era of Godawful Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjetblue-strikes-deal-to-buy-spirit-airlines-to-usher-in-new-era-of-godawful-customer-service%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1578018&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-jetblue\">JetBlue<\/a>\u00a0Airways has struck a deal to buy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-spirit-airlines\">Spirit Airlines<\/a> in a transaction valued at $3.8 billion, laying the foundation for the creation of a low-fare challenger to the dominant Big Four U.S. airlines.<\/p>\n<p>The companies jointly\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mediaroom.jetblue.com\/investor-relations\/press-releases\/2022\/07-28-2022-113040248\">announced on July 28<\/a> that their boards have given the green light to a definitive merger agreement, which came hours after Spirit scuttled plans for a combination with fellow discount carrier Frontier Airlines.<\/p>\n<p>Under the deal, which is subject to approval by regulators and Spirit shareholders, JetBlue will buy Spirit for\u00a0$33.50 per share in cash, including a prepayment of $2.50 per share that\u2019s\u00a0payable once Spirit stockholders approve the transaction.<\/p>\n<p>The companies said they expect the regulatory process to conclude and the transaction to close in the first half of 2024 at the latest. The airlines will carry on independently until then, and there will be no changes to their respective loyalty programs or customer accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Shares of Spirit rose 4.7 percent in midafternoon trading to $25.45, while JetBlue fell 2.4 percent to $8.22.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the prepayment, JetBlue will also pay a \u201cticking fee\u201d of $0.10 per month starting in January 2023 through closing, for an aggregate fully diluted equity value of $3.8 billion and an adjusted enterprise value of $7.6 billion, the companies said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4569562\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/06\/30\/Spirit-Airlines-planes-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4569562\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/06\/30\/Spirit-Airlines-planes-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Spirit Airlines planes\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Spirit Airlines planes are prepared for flight at the Fort Lauderdale\u2013Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on May 16, 2022. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe are excited to deliver this compelling combination that turbocharges our strategic growth, enabling JetBlue to bring our unique blend of low fares and exceptional service to more customers, on more routes,\u201d JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpirit and JetBlue will continue to advance our shared goal of disrupting the industry to bring down fares from the Big Four airlines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The merger will establish the fifth-biggest airline in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are thrilled to unite with JetBlue through our improved agreement to create the most compelling national low-fare challenger to the dominant U.S. carriers, and we look forward to working with JetBlue to complete the transaction,\u201d\u00a0Spirit President and CEO Ted Christie said in a statement.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4118471\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/JetBlue-Airways-aircraft-1200x784-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-large wp-image-4118471\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/JetBlue-Airways-aircraft-1200x784-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"418\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4118471\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/JetBlue-Airways-aircraft-1200x784-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"418\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> JetBlue Airways aircraft are pictured at departure gates at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on June 15, 2013. (Fred Prouser\/Reuters)<\/figure>\n<p>For JetBlue, merging with Spirit is the path of least resistance to acquiring Spirit\u2019s existing planes\u2014a fleet that will allow JetBlue to compete with the Big Four airlines\u2014American, Delta, United, and Southwest.<\/p>\n<p>The combined airline will have a fleet of 458 aircraft and an order book of more than 300 Airbus planes, the companies said. It will have 9 percent of market share, compared to about 13 percent for United Airlines (the fourth-largest) and around 23 percent for Southwest, which is the largest carrier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe we can uniquely be a solution to the lack of competition in the U.S. airline industry and the continued dominance of the Big Four,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n<p>JetBlue and Spirit said the merger will provide customers with more options and choices, while delivering more career growth options for employees.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement follows a months-long bidding war between JetBlue and Frontier Group. Frontier\u2019s shares rose 15 percent to\u00a012.99.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-tom-ozimek\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Tom-Ozimek.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Ozimek\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tom Ozimek has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education. The best writing advice he&#8217;s ever heard is from Roy Peter Clark: &#8216;Hit your target&#8217; and &#8216;leave the best for last.&#8217;\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JetBlue\u00a0Airways has struck a deal to buy Spirit Airlines in a transaction valued at $3.8 billion, laying the foundation for the creation of a low-fare challenger to the dominant Big<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1578018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1578018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1578018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1578018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1578018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}