Skift Travel News Blog

JetBlue Airways has raised its bid to takeover Spirit Airlines in the latest volley in an escalating proxy war with Frontier Airlines.

JetBlue upped its reverse break-up fee on Monday to $350 million — $100 million more than Frontier — and offered to pre-pay $164 million of said fee in its latest offer to Spirit shareholders. All in, the offer values Spirit at $31.50 per share.

The offer comes less than a week after Frontier improved its offer for Spirit with a $250 million reverse break-up fee.

“Combining JetBlue and Spirit would create a true national competitor to the dominant legacy carriers, delivering low fares and a great experience for more customers, more opportunities and good paying jobs for crewmembers and team members, and more value for stockholders,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a letter to the Spirit board. “The key features of our improved proposal – the up-front cash payment and increased reverse break-up fee – are not an illusion. This offer reflects the seriousness of our commitment and underscores our confidence in completing this transaction. Additionally, given the similar regulatory risks of the two transactions and the increased reverse break-up fee we are prepared to provide, we believe our Improved Proposal remains a Superior Proposal by any measure.”

Spirit shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Frontier merger proposal on June 10. The vote is the culmination of a four-month saga since Frontier and Spirit first announced plans to merge. JetBlue unveiled an unsolicited bid for Spirit in April, which the latter carrier rejected. JetBlue is now attempting a hostile takeover by asking Spirit shareholders to reject the Frontier deal.

Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways have both seen travel demand improve since their last second-quarter guidance update in April.

Southwest expects operating revenues to be 12-15 percent higher than in 2019, which is either the upper limit of its previous guidance or three-points higher, the Dallas-based carrier said Thursday. The airline “expects solid profits and operating margins, excluding special items, in second quarter 2022 and for the remainder of this year.”

And JetBlue expects revenues to come in at the high end of the up 11-16 percent year-over-three-years range it previously provided, the New York-based carrier said Thursday. And in June, unit revenues — a measure of how much it makes per seat mile flown — are “shaping up to be meaningfully better” than April and May with an increase of 20 percent compared to 2019.

“The demand environment continues to be strong,” JetBlue said.

United Airlines should look in the “proverbial mirror” when it comes to its allegations that poor operations at Newark Liberty International Airport are the the fault of smaller competitors, JetBlue Airways said Monday.

“Instead of criticizing low-fare/low-cost carriers, United should look in the proverbial mirror first when seeking a carrier to blame for operational issues and congestion at [Newark]: United, with 72 percent of operations at [Newark], is far and away the leading carrier at [Newark] with the most responsibility for operations at the airport,” JetBlue Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Robert Land said in a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation officials.

The airline’s arguments mirror those made by Spirit Airlines, both of which United has blamed for a recent spike delays and cancellations at Newark. Spirit Vice President of Network Planning John Kirby recently told Airline Weekly that United was taking “liberties” in blaming its competitors when the mainline carrier so clearly dominates Newark.

JetBlue offers several proposals to improve operations at Newark. For one, the airline says officials should wait for the new Terminal A to open later this year, and see if the facility — plus the end of construction — improve operations. If that does not work, the Federal Aviation Administration should “convene a schedule reduction meeting” to ensure that there are no more than the recommended maximum of 79 flights per hour. Other recommendations include the approval of simultaneous dual approaches on Newark’s two main runways to increase throughput.

No matter what comes of the war of words between United, and JetBlue and Spirit one thing is clear: travelers best be prepared for flight delays and cancellations at Newark this summer.