-Kacee Biggs-

Cousins!

Now Cousins, you know every time you hop on a Spirit flight, you feel like you just entered a twilight zone and stepped on a Soul Plane flight. Then not to mention all the extra fees you have to come out of pocket for.

However, it’s looking like a new day as JetBlue has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion in a deal that would create the nation’s fifth-largest airline.

The agreement comes days after Spirit’s attempt to merge with Frontier Airlines fell apart. Spirit had recommended its shareholders approve a lower offer from Frontier, saying antitrust regulators are more likely to reject the bid from JetBlue.

Both airlines have posted their plans on Twitter with Spirit breaking the news first with this tweet: “We’ve announced plans to combine with @JetBlue to deliver low fares & award-winning service to 77 million Guests on 1,700+ daily flights to over 125 destinations in 30 countries. Creating a national low-fare challenger to the dominant Big Four US airlines.”

According to CNBC, JetBlue said last week that it would pay $33.50 a share in cash for Spirit, including a prepayment of $2.50 a share in cash payable once Spirit stockholders approve the transaction. There’s also a ticketing fee of 10 cents a month starting in January 2023 through closing.

“As you can imagine, combining two airlines takes time and we still have a lot more work to do behind the scenes. After close, the combined airline will operate under the JetBlue brand. Eventually, all Spirit aircraft will be converted to JetBlue, but for now nothing is changing – we remain two independent airlines until the transaction closes,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in an email to customers.”

Any tickets you’ve purchased on either JetBlue or Spirit are still valid, and all your points and benefits stay exactly the same. We will keep you posted as we have additional details to share.”

So what would a Spirit-JetBlue merger mean for travelers?

A merger with JetBlue is going to be a big change for Spirit’s passengers. JetBlue competes more directly with legacy full-service carriers than the ultra-low-cost airline it plans to buy. That could mean higher fares in some markets.

Cousins, how do you feel about this upcoming merger?