Spirit Chair Viewed JetBlue Bid as Trying to Block Frontier Deal

Spirit Airlines Inc. Chairman Mac Gardner told a federal judge that he initially viewed last year’s takeover offer from JetBlue Airways Corp. as a possible attempt to break up Spirit’s planned merger with fellow discount carrier Frontier Group Holdings Inc., which was eventually scuttled.

“We were skeptical at that time,” Gardner testified Tuesday at an antitrust trial in Boston, where the US government is seeking to block JetBlue’s $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit. “There were a number of conditions in the tender offer that led us to be concerned about the sincerity of their effort.”

While Spirit has ...