pirit Airlines led the legal charge to ensure the slots Southwest Airlines abandoned at Newark would be reallocated. Now, after much legal wrangling, the carrier won the rights to those 16 slots.
Northeast Alliance
Spirit takes a pass on JetBlue’s buyout offer
Spirit Airlines sees a merger with JetBlue as unattainable. Not for lack of interest, mind you. JetBlue’s cash offer of $3.6 billion still stands. But doubts around the likelihood of regulatory approval have Spirit’s Board of Directors recommending that it continue to move forward with the previously planned Frontier merger instead. Assuming even that can get past regulators.
JetBlue proposes a Spirit buyout, besting Frontier’s bid
JetBlue finally formally announced its long-anticipated service between Boston and London to launch this summer. And, in a twist no one really expected, that turns out to be the smaller news item for the carrier this week. The New York Times reports that JetBlue made a $3.6bn stock offer for Spirit Airlines, besting the deal announced by Frontier in February.
Galley Gossip: Airline Planning edition
It is not often that a senior airline executive departs that role, and even less often that the news is semi-buried in a press release. Which makes what comes next for Scott Laurence, formerly Head of Revenue and Planning at JetBlue, all that much more interesting.
American Main Select focuses on business travelers in economy class
American Airlines plans a revamp of the marketing for its high frequency, business-focused routes in 2022. Along with shedding the “American Shuttle” branding, the carrier will expand what it considers high-frequency business markets and add a new fare type, dubbed Main Select.