Keeping Spirit Cheap for Flyers Threatens to Kill It Altogether

The judge says he did it out of love.

In Tuesday’s antitrust ruling scuttling JetBlue Airways Corp.’s $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines Inc., US District Judge William G. Young made an impassioned case a merger would eliminate a deep fare discounter, driving up ticket prices and hurting consumers. “Spirit is a small airline. But there are those who love it. To those dedicated customers of Spirit, this one’s for you,” he wrote.

But if the struggling Spirit plunges into disrepair — as the company’s 24% stock decline Wednesday on top of a 47% plunge Tuesday suggests — ...