{"id":2085147,"date":"2023-10-31T11:13:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T15:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-seeks-to-block-jetblues-spirit-airlines-deal-at-trial\/"},"modified":"2023-10-31T11:16:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T15:16:43","slug":"us-seeks-to-block-jetblues-spirit-airlines-deal-at-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-seeks-to-block-jetblues-spirit-airlines-deal-at-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"US aims to prevent JetBlue&#8217;s acquisition of Spirit Airlines through legal proceedings."},"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\">24<\/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%2Fus-seeks-to-block-jetblues-spirit-airlines-deal-at-trial%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=2085147&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><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><span class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2\" data-testid=\"Text\">By <\/span>Nate Raymond<\/p>\n<p>October 31, 2023 \u2013\u2064 2:57 PM UTC<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>BLOCKING JETBLUE&#8217;S ACQUISITION OF SPIRIT AIRLINES URGED BY \u200dDOJ LAWYER<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><h3>BOSTON (Reuters) \u2013<\/h3>\n<p> A U.S. Department\u2062 of Justice lawyer on Tuesday urged a federal judge \u200dto block JetBlue Airways\u2019 (JBLU.O) planned $3.8 billion acquisition\u200d of ultra-low-cost carrier\u200b Spirit Airlines\u200d (SAVE.N) at the start of closely-watched antitrust\u2063 trial.<\/p>\n<p>The case \u200cin federal court in Boston is part of a broad \u200beffort by \u200bPresident Joe\u200c Biden\u2019s \u2063administration to preserve \u2064competition among the lowest cost airlines, ensuring air travel remains affordable\u2064 for many more US consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Department attorney \u2062Arianna Markel \u200cin her opening statement told U.S. District Judge William Young that the deal would lead to fewer\u200d flights and seats and higher prices.<\/p>\n<p>She said a JetBlue internal analysis projected its fares would increase 30% once Spirit, \u2064which competes with JetBlue on around \u2064100 routes nationally, is\u2062 not a competitor. Passengers would suffer roughly \u2063$1 \u2064billion in net harm annually, she said.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>\u201cJetBlue \u200cis counting on the fact that eliminating\u2063 Spirit and the competition Spirit provides \u2063will allow \u2063JetBlue to raise fares,\u201d Markel said.\u2062 \u201cThat is \u200breal harm to real people.\u201d<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>JetBlue attorney Ryan Shores countered that the case was\u2063 a \u201cmisguided\u201d challenge \u2064to \u200da merger between the U.S.\u2019s sixth and\u2063 seventh largest airlines, \u200bwhich combined control\u2064 less than\u200b 8% of the domestic market dominated by four larger airlines.<\/p>\n<p>Those \u2062four U.S. carriers \u2064\u2013 United Airlines (UAL.O), American Airlines (AAL.O),\u200c Delta\u2064 Air Lines (DAL.N) and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) \u2013 dominate 80% of the \u2062domestic market following a\u200d series of previous \u200cairline mergers that\u2063 the federal government blessed, Shores \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Shores said the\u200d government had\u2063 wrongly tried to bar JetBlue from growing into a larger challenge\u200d to those four airlines and disrupt a market that has become \u201cbad for competition and bad\u200c for consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2062government in\u2062 this case has \u200clost the forest\u200c for the\u2063 trees,\u201d Shores said.<\/p>\n<p>The trial began\u2063 on the\u2063 same day JetBlue posted lower-than-expected third-quarter results, citing air traffic control and weather delays during the \u2062summer \u200btravel season, and\u200b projected a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.<\/p>\n<p>Its\u2063 shares were down\u200d 16.7% to\u200b a near 12-year low in morning trading.<\/p>\n<p>JetBlue\u200d has called the deal pro-consumer and has sought to ease U.S. regulators\u2019 antitrust concerns \u2064by agreeing\u2064 to sell \u200doff Spirit\u2019s gates and slots at certain airports in New\u2064 York \u2064City, Boston, \u2063Newark and Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n<p>But\u2063 the\u200b Justice Department has said those divestitures are not \u2064enough, and in a lawsuit filed in March argued the combined airline would harm consumers by increasing fares and reducing choice\u200b on routes nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>The department is \u200dsuing alongside Democratic attorneys general\u2063 from six states and the District of Columbia. \u200bThey \u200bcall\u2062 Spirit a \u201cdisruptive and innovative airline\u201d whose low-cost, \u200bno-frills model has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-seeks-to-block-jetblues-spirit-airlines-deal-at-trial\/\" title=\"US aims to prevent JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit Airlines through legal proceedings.\">forced price cuts \u2062industry-wide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The department\u2019s case \u2064is \u2062part of a \u200bbroader push by\u2064 the Biden administration to aggressively step up antitrust enforcement, an initiative that has had mixed results \u2062in\u200b court.<\/p>\n<p>JetBlue was already the focus of one of its earlier cases,\u2062 with a different Boston judge,\u200c Leo Sorokin, in \u200cMay siding with the government \u2063in finding that JetBlue\u2019s \u2064U.S. Northeast partnership with American Airlines violated\u2062 antitrust law.<\/p>\n<p>JetBlue subsequently decided \u200bto terminate the alliance. American Airlines is appealing Sorokin\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting by Nate \u2063Raymond in Boston, \u2064Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Nick Zieminski and Marguerita Choy<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-4\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-4'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<p class=\"dpsp-share-text\" style=\"margin-bottom:10px\"> \t\t \t\tShare this\u200b post!\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Trump has a busy week, as a Colorado case\u200c could remove him \u200dfrom the ballot via the 14th Amendment, \u200dwhile Judge Chutkan revives his gag order.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>On this day\u2064 in 1967 Americans heard the\u2062 voice\u2062 of Tennessee\u200c icon \u2062Dolly Parton\u200d Propelling\u2064 the country music \u200csinger from obscurity to global acclaim.\u200b <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>A Federal judge re-imposes a\u2062 gag order\u200c on 45th President Donald Trump ending a temporary \u200dsuspension. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>After a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newsom-knocks-over-spanks-small-child-during-pickup-basketball-game-in-china\/\" title=\"Newsom's aggressive behavior towards a child during a basketball game in China sparks outrage.\">mass shooting leaves 18 people dead<\/a> and\u2063 another \u206313 people injured, the \u200dresidents of Lewiston, Maine gather for a Halloween event.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>China\u2019s most popular social media platforms announced that \u201cself-media\u201d accounts with more than 500,000 followers will be asked \u200cto display real-name information<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Intel rose more than 9% on Friday and sparked \u200ca jump in chip stocks after the personal computer \u2064market was rebounding from\u2062 its \u200dquarters-long slump.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Amazon.com rose 7% on Friday as it aims\u200d for a larger share of \u200dthe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-war-orders-starting-to-boost-revenues-for-big-us-defense-contractors\/\" title=\"US defense contractors are seeing increased revenues due to orders related to the Ukraine war.\">booming artificial intelligence market<\/a> in\u200d a race with Microsoft.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Malaysia\u2019s communications regulator will issue a\u200b warning to social media firms\u2064 TikTok and Meta\u00a0for allegedly blocking pro-Palestinian content on their platforms.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> rnrn  <\/p>\n<h2> How are European airlines\u2064 planning to reduce \u2064fares?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Style=&#8221;min-width: 320px; min-height: \u200c50px; text-align: center;&#8221;>  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-4'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2\" data-testid=\"Text\">Recommended For You<\/span><\/p>\n<p>European airlines\u200d plan to cut\u200d fares \u2062thanks to higher fuel efficiency<\/p>\n<p>The aviation industry is \u200ccommitted to reducing its\u200b carbon\u200d emissions\u2063 and shifting towards sustainable fuels, but airlines\u200b are also set to benefit economically from these changes. The improved fuel efficiency of new airplanes will allow European carriers\u200b to cut their fares by an estimated 4-15% over the next decade. This is\u2063 great news for\u200b travelers, who will enjoy cheaper flights while contributing to a greener future.<\/p>\n<div class=\"webdoc-embed-container\" style=\"height:600px;width:540px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/app.webdoc.com\/webdocs\/jetblue-airways-and-spirit-airlines\/latest?embed=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600px\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen style=\"border:none;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A DOJ lawyer asked a judge to halt JetBlue&#8217;s $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines, citing antitrust concerns. The trial, closely monitored, began in Boston federal court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1911,"featured_media":2085148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2085147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085147","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\/1911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2085147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2085148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2085147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2085147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2085147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}