JetBlue plans Latin American expansion if Spirit merger approved
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JetBlue has applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the transfer of Spirit’s international routes under DOT Docket DOT-OST-2023-0024-0001 following their merger, which is pending approval. Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recognized the importance of this merger to benefit consumers and competition.
The merger of JetBlue and Spirit will offer travelers the following benefits:
- A unified network of more than 125 destinations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
- More than 1,700 daily flights.
- A fleet of 458 modern, fuel-efficient aircraft.
- An order for 300 new-generation Airbus aircraft.
- More affordable fares.
- Expanded service to underserved small and medium-sized cities.
JetBlue will offer Spirit’s slots in New York, Boston and Fort Lauderdale, where only 9 destinations will remain with a combined share of the two airlines exceeding 35%. This will allow the low-cost carriers to enter new markets in the northeastern United States and the state of Florida.
Expansion in Los Angeles
By combining JetBlue and Spirit’s operations at Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), JetBlue will be able to optimize its transcontinental operations by offering morning and evening flights, landing in Hawaii and adding more leisure routes.
The merger will have a competitive impact on LAX by offering consumers new travel options with JetBlue’s additional routes. LAX has an equal presence of major U.S. carriers American, Delta, Southwest and United.
More routes to Latin America and the Caribbean
The merger of Spirit and JetBlue plans to fly to several underserved origin – destination (O&D) markets, where both airlines do not offer service and are underserved due to various constraints. Planned services include:
- Guatemala City (GUA) – San Francisco (SFO) and Salt Lake City (SLC).
- Quito (UIO) – Houston (IAH), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Tampa (TPA) and Denver (DEN).
- San Pedro Sula (SAP) – San Francisco (SFO).
- Nassau (NAS) – Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Charlotte (CLT), Houston (IAH), Denver (DEN), Detroit (DTW), Tampa (TPA), Indianapolis (IND) and Columbus (CMH).
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL): Antigua (ANU), Belize City (BZE) and Liberia – Guanacaste (LIR).
These services provide ample supply against Latin/Caribbean legacy airline hubs in Atlanta (Delta), Dallas (American), Houston (United) and Miami (American). This would benefit the country’s travelers, causing other carriers to match JetBlue’s fares.
See also: Spirit Airlines shareholders approve JetBlue merger deal
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