from Hacker News

Judge blocks JetBlue from acquiring Spirit Airlines

by i0exception on 1/17/24, 2:09 AM with 115 comments

  • by jprd on 1/17/24, 2:17 AM

  • by dtnewman on 1/17/24, 12:22 PM

    I am personally happy with this decision. I don’t love flying spirit but I respect them, ever since hearing their former CEO speak on a Planet Money podcast.

    He said straight up that Spirit Airlines is aiming to be the Dollar General of the skies. If you want something luxurious, go elsewhere. But he called out the other airlines who pretend like they are the Nordstrom of the skies, but don’t actually live up to that.

  • by jsyang00 on 1/17/24, 3:28 AM

    This is a bad ruling, Spirit is likely to go under without acquisition. Neither firm had particularly large share of market.

  • by paul7986 on 1/17/24, 5:48 AM

    Bummer to read spirit might go under .. as a lite traveler ..stuff my clothes/belongings in a book bag ..spirit is very inexpensive and after ten or more good/fine flights in 2023 their my go to airline. None of my flights with them were any different than paying more to fly with the other more expensive airlines. My worst was a delta flight as they didn't clean the bathroom and it stink up the mid section of the plane and I paid double with delta vs. spirit.

  • by kalu on 1/17/24, 3:56 AM

    Read the ruling and arguments on both sides here:

    https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66962142/united-states-...

  • by anonnon on 1/17/24, 9:09 AM

    Meanwhile MSFT, a monopolist megacap, was allowed to buy Activision-Blizzard?

  • by chx on 1/17/24, 9:07 AM

    Better later than never, the Continental-United merger was an absolute disaster and should've never been allowed.

  • by nerdjon on 1/17/24, 2:44 PM

    As someone who basically flys exclusively JetBlue when I have the choice, I am disappointed by this.

    JetBlue's biggest problem remains their access to airports, if they were able to get more access to that they would likely be a serious threat to the bigger airlines.

    I don't understand how this is bad for competition when we desperately need more competition that can actually compete.

  • by vlovich123 on 1/17/24, 2:54 AM

    If Alaska acquires Hawaiian then this would have to be decided ultimately by SCOTUS right? I would think these two cases are too similar and there needs to be some fairness and consistency in the rulings.

  • by ChrisArchitect on 1/17/24, 4:31 AM