JetBlue and Spirit Airlines reached a deal on a merger that would create the fifth largest airline in the U.S. CNBC’S Leslie Josephs explains what this merger means for people who fly a lot.
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#JetBlue #Spirit #Airlines
Alles sehr schön. Aber zuerst zusammen die Nummern 10 und 1. Eine warmthh.Online Brünette und eine andereb Blondine. Es wäre unfair, wenn ich 4 wählen würde
Hopefully, JetBlue finds an alternative to Ft Lauderdale being their South/Central American gateway. That airport is a nightmare for flights entering the US.
JetBlue is going to become super hub out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Orlando International Airport. Spirit has a lot of South America/Central America flights out of Miami International Airport.
I would imagine that during the merger whatever Spirit has as their gateway for South America, Central America, and Caribbean destinations, JetBlue will just leave everything as is and take on what is already in place that Spirit already committed to. JetBlue will have to commit to that.
I’ve flown out of both Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport both domestically, but not internationally. At the time I was going through Miami International Airport a couple of times, it was going under renovations. I don’t know if there are things still being worked on there, but nevertheless, while people would say it’s easier to get out of Fort Lauderdale Airport, there’s not much there like it is at Miami Airport. I like flying in and out of Miami’s Airport than I do at Fort Lauderdale’s Airport.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas Hopefully JetBlue will negotiate preferential treatment, instead of Spirit’s “wait, wait, wait” 3rd rate treatment.
@Glenn R I think they will. JetBlue flies out of MIA Airport too just like Southwest just went into MIA Airport too. Everybody will have options and preferences as to which airport from Palm Beach International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport they want to fly out of domestically, but internationally, I think both FLL and MIA will remain as is. If FLL Airport is a problem for you internationally, you’ll always have MIA Airport as an alternative and if you don’t have to drive and are close to Tri-Rail, you can take it right into the station and don’t have to spend any money on parking.
When they asked are you worried? The right response should have been should have been not one bit!
Well 2 bad apples still makes 2 bad apples.
Wouldn’t Frontier be the bad apple if they won the merger?
How is JetBlue a bad apple? Every airline might have problems especially at a time when travel demand has been unprecedented. I’m not saying airlines don’t get their fair share of complaints and Spirit got it the most and had Frontier merged with Spirit, it would’ve made them hateful.
At least with JetBlue, you’re getting something great that both Frontier and Spirit just didn’t offer on their airlines and Spirit doesn’t have to be seen as the Greyhound of the airline industry for less than 2 years to go which will pass by quickly.
JetBlue just like every airline gets their fair share of complaints, but nothing as notorious as Spirit or Frontier individually and combined. At least JetBlue is giving Spirit a better life and a better product once everything is fully merged into one.
jetblue is a good company, i congratulate them
Never flew JetBlue but flew Spirit once and I regretted not spending the extra $150 for the Delta flight.
True.
JetBlue is the best! One of the only ones if not the only ones to offer free unlimited snacks! Not to mention all planes now have the new upgraded interior!!
@Jxmar Yea you need to get out more if you think a jet blew u is the best.
But not everyone can afford to do so.
Spirit isn’t that bad
Spirit is the worst airline. Good bye
i just saw a spirit airplane for the first time fly above me
Hardest part of an airline merger is not plane modifications or fees,etc. It’s getting all the employees on the same page. Two airlines, bunch of other unions with different contracts.
I was a United mechanic during the merger with continental. Oh lord what a mess it was.
Jetblue and Spirit’s will be a very difficult one too im assuming. They’re just so different. Super low cost carrier and an airline that gives you the most leg rest and free wifi. Two completely different airlines who will have two completely different work cultures trying to become one.
Spirit planes shake so hard that you could feel your SPIRIT leave your body.
🤣🤣🤣
LMAO
I flew with them once and never again. It’s before I “knew”
Thank GOD Jetblue took over. But it’s gonna be a pricey swap for all those seats and overhead bins. Spirit doesn’t deserve to stay in business. You can’t treat people like sardines, literally.
their not forcing anybody to fly with them, people choose spirit because they offer low fares, the problem is people pay less and expect more…Spirit deserved to be in business because they provide job to thousands of people and most especially they fly people to their destinations safely.
@darwin siman Spirit only has company-owned employees working out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on the aspect of the front counter/boarding gates and baggage handling/ramp operations. The Flight Attendants, Pilots and Co-Pilots are all Spirit Airlines employees out of their respective airport bases, but when it comes to being a Ticket Agent and a Ramp Agent, FLL Airport is the only company-owned employees for those two departments at Spirit Airlines.
Everywhere else Spirit Airlines serves and operates outside of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for ticketing and ramp is contracted through 3rd party vendors that are NOT actual Spirit Airlines employees and is not paid by Spirit Airlines. Those who are working as 3rd party contractors where Spirit serves and operates will be disbanded when JetBlue takes over and JetBlue will have their own company-owned employees and hire actual new company-owned employees to do the work the way it is meant to do with great pay and great benefits. The real company-owned Spirit Airlines from Ticketing and Baggage at FLL Airport will be converted over to JetBlue employees.
It means no more ugly yellow planes. ✈
RICH PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THEY HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO HAVE A AIRLINER
JetBlue will likely end up regretting this. They are going at least 4 billion in more debt (before the integration costs) and I don’t think they are equipped to handle and complex merger.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas My lack of describing it properly, but this is exactly what I was trying to explain
@Adam0896 true, but what if this doesn’t pay off?
@Adam0896 No worries man. I knew what you were saying. I am a former airline Ramp Agent employee of 4 different airlines: (Midwest Airlines👍🏽, Frontier Airlines👎🏽, JetBlue Airways👍🏽, and Envoy Air (American Airlines’s regional carrier👎🏽). I completely understood exactly where you were going with your statement.
@The Video Game Show It will pay off. They all do. Airline mergers don’t happen overnight. It takes time.
A. You have to get the employees’ seniority roster worked out.
B. You have to work with the unions being that the Flight Attendants, Pilots, and Co-Pilots are a union, but not the Ramp Agents, Gate Agents, or the Aircraft Mechanics, but you got to see if a union is going to want to unionize their Ramp Agents, Gate Agents, and Aircraft Mechanics in the interest of fairness and protection.
C. You have to merge Spirit’s route network to JetBlue’s route network and see what flights don’t overlap each other as far as inbound arrival times and outbound departure times go.
D. You have to factor in how long it’s going to take to convert Spirit’s airplanes to JetBlue airplanes from exterior paint job and logo rebranding, installing Wi-Fi, putting JetBlue’s seats, TVs and entertainment, new carpeting, fixing the bathrooms, upgrading the cockpits GPS, interior lighting, overhead bin space, redo the under belly cargo bins for luggage, full maintenance servicing before it can go back in the air, and so on.
E. You have to get the Spirit Ticket Agents to learn the program that JetBlue Ticket Agents use. Unless all the airlines use the same program for printing boarding passes and printing bag tags, then that’s one less thing to worry about.
F. You have to get the Spirit Ramp Agents on the same page with the JetBlue Ramp Agents to understand the way they do things. While all Ramp Agent jobs at every airline are the same, every airline’s ramp operations operates a different way than what you might be used to doing the way they’ve been doing Ramp work on their end.
G. You have to figure out where the office workers are going to be for their work. Because JetBlue is based in New York, but Spirit Airlines is in Miramar, Florida, the Spirit Miramar-based office workers might transition their work to remote work-from-home indefinitely which would be beneficial for them.
H. You have to bring the Aircraft Mechanics from Spirit Airlines together with the JetBlue Airways Mechanics.
I. You have to figure out what Spirit Airlines is going to do with the new training center that is being built in Dania Beach, Florida because when both companies merge, what will JetBlue want to do with it? If JetBlue is smart, they’d keep it after it’s fully completed by the developers building the new facility so that JetBlue has a new secondary training center acquired from Spirit because they’re going to need it to speed up the process of getting people hired in all of their departments and in classroom training so that people can go into their respective departments. JetBlue has a training center in Orlando, but if that should already be full and occupied with training classes, then the new Spirit Airlines Training Center picked up by JetBlue will serve as a secondary training center facility.
Sorry for making this way too long to read, but as someone who worked in the airline industry, this is exactly how mergers go. It’s not just buy another airline and call it a day. Many of those things I mentioned and others I did not mention is what it takes to make a merger successful when starting a new venture with two airlines combined into one bigger airline.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas Thank you for replying. I also have a somewhat relevant idea on how mergers work. My dad got hired for Northwest Airlink (Mesaba) in 1996, went through the Mesaba and pinnacle mergers (basically 2 child company mergers that happened during the northwest merger) and now works for Endeavor Air (Does business as Delta Connection) Endeavor is a wholly owned child company of Delta. There have been some negotiations of dissolving endeavor into Delta mainline, my dad missed all opportunities to flow to the mainline due to family stuff, and now might lose his seniority numbers due to this consolidation. I’d say the worst part of all of this, is Spirit employees possibly losing much sonority. I also understand the difficulties of the route network integrations, and airplane reconfiguration. I may not have much experience (yet) as I still have a few years to go until I start getting my licenses, but thank you very much for sharing, I appreciate it.
JetBlue is going to force those ticket prices up because there will be no ULCC with their size that can compete. This essentially is a lose lose proposition for consumers. Good news for employees though.
I disagree, less ridiculous fees and better service. Plus every new airline is an ULCC
@Patrick Hardin Those ULCCs lack the scale and do not serve some of the airports and markets the combined JetBlue is going to serve. It will take years to recover that capacity. So in summary, less service, higher fares, it is supply and demand. JetBlue may use this talking point to get this acquisition through the DOJ but the big four did already on their respective mergers and look where that got us…
*The merge of the worst and 2nd worst US airlines*
You’re saying that the Frontier and Midwest aren’t the worst or Virgin America and Alaska Airlines aren’t the worst, but JetBlue and Spirit is, but if Frontier and Spirit merged, it wouldn’t have?
Anyone having watched 3 YouTube videos about the Spirit saga could have said that, minus a few clueless wild guess.
Now they’ll be No affordable travel!
Yes there will. If you still want to fly on garbage Frontier, or you want to fly on Allegiant Air or Sun Country Airlines, that’s as best as you will get.
BEWARE: Frontier remaining a standalone airline doesn’t mean they offer really low fares. I can tell you this because I am a former Frontier Airlines employee and their prices and service are all a lie and a joke.
DOUBLE BEWARE: Eventually, Alaska Airlines might look into buying Frontier Airlines while Allegiant Air may eventually buy Sun Country Airlines.Hawaiian Airlines will be the only standalone airline left in the U.S. because they don’t have any intentions to merging with anyone ever.
JetBlue is crazy affordable and offer a great flying experience
Frontier on the other hand…
@Adam0896 Strongly agree.
If people want ghetto and hoodlum service with airport fights and in-flight fights, Frontier will offer that to them with no problem if they want cheap travel.
Call me crazy, but in some ways, I actually kind of like this merger from a consumer standpoint. The result is the loss of a nickel-and-dime airline and the emergence of a much larger “premium” airline that can compete head to head with the legacy carriers (i.e., American, Delta, and United) and could potentially cause a bit of disruption to the legacy triopoly that has ruled over the last decade or so. There are certain markets such as Atlanta, Detroit, and Charlotte where one legacy airline pretty much has a monopoly. If JetBlue can establish a bit of a presence at airports like those and disrupt the present monopolies, it could theoretically be beneficial to consumers.
Just my thoughts. Time will tell, I guess…
I hear you. And while I don’t particularly like the nickel-and-dime business model, I have flown it a couple of times for the most leisurely trip, I can say I do see a market for what Spirit offers just as-is…that will essentially go away. Disappointment AND Anticipation all rolled into one.
@A220NAL
I do understand that there is a market for airlines like Spirit. For quick leisure trips, it does serve it’s purpose. Fortunately, there will still be some options for the ultra low cost market — namely, Frontier and Allegiant. In fact, this merger actually gives Frontier and Allegiant an opportunity to expand (assuming they can nab some more planes). If they are able to expand, they have the potential to pick up a lot of customers that would have once flown Spirit.
@Matt Wyman I totally agree with you there. They’re going to have to join forces AND pick up some of the routes jetBlue will now be forced to sell-off for sure!
For Me I Love Flying with JetBlue Airways on Barbados to New York and Fort Lauderdale Boston is next on the list for me the next time I travel.
Hahahaah, Jet Blue takes over Spirit…..I’ll tell you what it means, service that’s twice as bad.
JetBlue has way better service than Frontier or Spirit individually.
At least Spirit Airlines will stop getting their hate once the merger is final in the first half of 2024 and get a better life with an airline with class.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas I don’t know….I keep thinking of the merger between Sears and Kmart. We shall see, if it works.
WOW!! Jetblue is the best airline ever… Spirit is the worst airline ever!
Now Spirit will get a better life with the best airline without a negative reputation anymore.
spirit won’t exist
@Mark Was Here Yup. After the first half of 2024, Spirit will be fully JetBlue. Spirit Airlines employees deserve a better work life and JetBlue taking on Spirit means no more airport fights and in-flight fights and no more hated customer service and definitely no more bad travelers with a ghetto and hoodlum mentality disrupting business.
Frontier can take those people as they should.
Jetblue is wayyyyyyy better it is a quality airline they never let me down
The big 4 better be worried!
I’ve been debating this in my head.
On one hand, I say that the big 4 (American, Southwest, United, and Delta) don’t have anything to worry about.
On the other hand, I say that the big 4 probably do have something to worry about. JetBlue will be able to compete with all 4 in terms of ticket prices.
However, JetBlue’s greatest competitor once the merger is completed in the first half of 2024 is going to be Southwest Airlines for dominance in the Florida market big time.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas jetBlue has everything that is needed at this point to be very competitive! Into The Blue.
They are charging $100 for carry-on.
That’s nothing new. They have been doing that because people take their carry-on to the gate beyond the security checkpoint knowing people with certain carry-ons are not going to fit in the overhead space or overhead space gets fully used up. That’s a pretty price to say when people don’t read the fine print.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas That is a rip off. Carry on was free before, now they charged for everything and the price to fly with them is not so great.
“Wins”? um. no.
not a merger
So their new name should be The Blue Spirit 🤔
JetBlue can’t keep their name and put it on all Spirit planes?
@Cynthia Tucker you’ve never watched Avatar: The Last Airbender have you?
The Blue Spirit is a character in it. I was making a reference to the show.
jetBlue and Spirit nice battle I still like flying Spirit but it’s not Spirit Airlines fault but it’s the companies fault because too much Delays, cancelation it’s putting passengers into shame but it’s okay I’d Spirit didn’t win sometimes it could be difficult due to the money and price.
But don’t worry everyone can still prefer to fly Spirit but without the Delays and the Cancelation it’s not going to help passengers to fly safely, it happens to jetBlue and American, and people missing their flight not going to work for anyone. So it’s possible for everyone to fly on a cheaper flight and get on a smoother route but without for Spirit and Frontiers merge it’s not going to work out so it’s more easy for us to fly anytime we want.
I wonder what they will call the new company now that they are merging into one company?
When 2 airlines merging, the bigger company, carry the name. Since jetblue is bigger n its the one bought out the deal. Jetblue will remain jetblue. No new name
@Robby S This is correct.
Can’t afford to travel. So, means nothing
LOL!
It means the Corperation of the church of jesus christ owns spirit delta will be next
How is Delta next? They bought Northwest Airlines back in 2008. They are already a huge airline.
United bought Continental in 2009. They are already a huge airline.
Republic Airways acquired Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines in 2010 and took on the Frontier name. That was the worst merger and took away a lot of jobs and routes and now Frontier remains really small. I should know because I was affected by this.
Southwest bought AirTran in 2011. They are already a huge airline.
American Airlines bought U.S. Airways in 2013. They are already a huge airline.
JetBlue missed the opportunity to get Virgin America and instead Alaska Airlines won Virgin America in 2016. They are not a huge airline and I know both Alaska Airlines and the Virgin America employees were all kicking themselves and regretting it to this day.
Now, here we are today. JetBlue buys Spirit at $3.8B with the merger to be completed in the first half of 2024 which could be anywhere between January 1st, 2024-June 30th, 2024.
Poor little Frontier Airlines is all alone. If they want to be bought, Alaska Airlines can redeem themselves and buy Frontier and they can dominate the West Coast.
This would leave Allegiant Air, Sun Country Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines as the remaining 3 standalone airlines left in the U.S. If Alaska Airlines were to buy Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air were to buy Sun Country Airlines, then Hawaiian Airlines would be the remaining airline in the U.S. to be the sole surviving standalone airline and I believe that’s going to happen.
sweet, no more ghetto people flying <3
Last time I flew Jetblue was 2008 and I guess they’re okay? Better than Frontier at least!
I recommend flying JetBlue in 2022 and you’ll be blown away.
Spirit is best when it comes to low prices. Except once it was on time every time for me.
I’ve flown JetBlue my whole life and I love it! I think this will be a good deal.
I am a former employee of JetBlue! I actually miss it🤦♂️
I used to work for JetBlue too. I had a very short-lived run, like 1 month short-lived.
The location I chose was too expensive for my budget after I did all of my research in thinking it was going to be the perfect place to move to and all. The company and airport I worked at were great to me.
If I didn’t pick the location I worked at and waited for the one I truly wanted, I’d probably still be there for almost 10 years.
Hey, I don’t know what it is you do now, but if you can go back, do it. Once that merger is completed, I think the new JetBlue is going to be even better.
I’m trying to go back now and this time to the right location where I am now living and moved to almost 4 years now this year.
Neither airline is union as far as the ramp agents and gate agents. The pilots and flight attendants are unionized
This is very true. If the Ramp Agents and Gate Agents want to be unionized, they better start now.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas I was unfairly terminated by JetBlue in 2012. I wish that we had a union. Otherwise I would still be there as many other people
Why anyone would fly or want to take over Spirit airlines is beyond me, if you can’t afford a real airlines stay home.
As harsh as many people will come out and attack you for this and say otherwise, (not me by the way) I have to say that your point is as valid as it can be.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas Thanks appreciate.
Lower tickets gone probably
Frontier is the better low cost airline.
No they’re not. I used to work for Frontier Airlines and their low costs aren’t as low as they want you to believe and their service is trash. What’s going to end up happening is now all of the Spirit Airlines travelers will just move over to Frontier and Frontier will be the new Greyhound of the airline industry.
@Antoine Lee-Thomas I agree of what you are saying as I’ve flown Frontier before.
JET BLUE, spoiler year after years
I love it i love flying with jet blue
Never had an issue with spirit , you get low fares for traveling to major airports compared to allegiant and to many more places at that. Kind of sad to see this go away. I’m a huge budget airline fan and I fear that prices are going to increase even more because of this merge and turn to be a premium airline just like delta. Nothing against delta, I love delta but it’s just too expensive. Time to start road tripping perhaps lol.
I feel the same 🙁
Road tripping is probably even more expensive
Great reporting, knowledge and fact based. Solid interview.
This will be one of the best mergers in a long time. You have a premium airline buying an ultra low cost carrier that nickel and dimes you for everything with extreme complaints. To combat that, you have to give the one being purchased a better life and that’s what’s happening.
Had Frontier and Spirit merged, airline travel would get way out of hand to the point where you’d have FAA Air Marshals and law enforcement traveling on aircraft to any and every destination just to make sure things stay in line. JetBlue doesn’t have a negative reputation that Spirit and Frontier do. With JetBlue buying Spirit, Spirit Airlines needs a better life, a better product, and better experience to the traveling public and the things that made Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines and not in a good way, you don’t have to worry about that with JetBlue Airways because JetBlue is an airline with class and knows how to attract customers.
Frontier and Spirit would’ve been good. JetBlue and Spirit would raise prices for travel I feel.
This is awesome 👏
Good riddance to those yellow planes!
Ironically, when JetBlue started, their original name choice was “Taxi” and they were going to have yellow planes. The FAA said they can’t use Taxi as a name to avoid what would have been immense confusion at airports since taxi is a term used by air traffic controllers.
I don’t care what they end up doing just don’t increase my ticket prices!
Jetblue more leg room and wifi
I’ve heard JetBlue was good, and we all know Spirit is a nightmare airline. So does this mean JetBlue quality will now go down or does Spirit go away completely and old Spirit gets up to JetBlue quality?
At least Frontier is still an option for low fares. I find it interesting that people say they charge for everything. I would rather know what I’m paying for than be charged more at a bundled price. Be a smart consumer people and compare prices overall not just complain afterwards
Remember, if you don’t like these high gas prices, which equate to high everything prices, and you voted for sleepy joe, you are part of the problem and are on no ground to complain #LetsGoBrandon #ImpeachBiden #MAGA2024 #VoteRED
good bye flying school bus.
Jet Blue is the worst. Nothing but bad experiences for me. I had to stop flying them earlier this year because of how bad they have gotten.
I will never fly JetBlue again. The world’s worst airline.
How great is that! Now fewer flights and more chaos but higher compensation packages for Jet Blue executives! I wouldn’t go near an airport or on any American airline given the poor service and questionable safety of the aircraft. It’s worse than traveling by bus! Good luck air travelers!
Because Europe is so much better right now.?🤷🏻♀️. Checkout London, Amsterdam aNd Frankfurt issues. Jus sayn.
Spirit was the ONLY real deal for saving money. Basic, simple and most of all, cheap! Prepare your wallets people…😐