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14h ago

Spirit’s Shutdown Triggers Fresh Questions Over Blocked JetBlue–Spirit Merger

The collapse has sharpened questions about how regulators police airline mergers.

Spirit Airlines planes are parked on the tarmac at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 02, 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. announced today that it has canceled all upcoming flights and begun a wind-down of Spirit Airlines operations after failing to secure funding from the Trump administration. Joe Raedle/Getty Images, [Inset] Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Director of the Office of Management and Budget nominee Neera Tanden (L) speaks as President-elect Joe Biden (R) looks on during an event to name President-elect Joe Biden’s economic team at the Queen Theater on December 1, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden is nominating and appointing key positions to the Treasury Department, Office of Management and Budget, and the Council of Economic Advisers. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Former Biden aide Neera Tanden in 2024. | Getty Images

Overview

  • Spirit Airlines, which said Saturday it had begun an “orderly wind-down” effective immediately, canceled all flights and ended customer service.
  • The halt has left about 17,000 employees without work, according to reporting after Saturday’s announcement on the company’s website.
  • Neera Tanden, a former Biden White House aide, posted on X that the Justice Department’s move to stop JetBlue from buying Spirit should be reassessed after the shutdown.
  • In March 2023, the Justice Department sued to block JetBlue’s $3.8 billion bid, several state attorneys general joined the case, and a federal judge blocked the deal in 2024.
  • A 2023 video shows then–Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg saying DOT would back DOJ’s suit and use its own powers to keep more choices and low fares for passengers.