JetBlue-Spirit Deal Faces DOJ Antitrust Suit as Soon as Tuesday

The Justice Department and Department of Transportation are expected to take action as soon as Tuesday to block JetBlue Airways Corp.’s $3.8 billion merger with Spirit Airlines Inc., according to people familiar with the case.

The Justice Department is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the elimination of Spirit would increase ticket prices and decrease options for travelers, according to the people, who spoke anonymously to discuss an ongoing case. The Department of Transportation is expected to begin a parallel proceeding to block the transfer of Spirit’s airline certificate as incompatible with the public interest, the people said.

The move by DOT is largely unprecedented in the modern era; the agency hasn’t used its authority to block certificate transfers since the airline industry was deregulated in 1978.

The Justice Department and DOT didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. JetBlue didn’t immediately comment and Spirit didn’t return a call seeking comment.

Spirit was down as much as 8.7% at 12:42 p.m. in New York. JetBlue was trading up 2.3%

--With assistance from Alan Levin.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Leah Nylen in Washington at lnylen2@bloomberg.net;
Anna Edgerton in Washington at aedgerton@bloomberg.net;
Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman, Chester Dawson

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