US judge blocks JetBlue from acquiring Spirit Airlines

As a JetBlue customer this is pretty disappointing. I certainly feel a lack of competition in the airline space, but frankly it's seemed that both Spirit and JetBlue are ill equipped to compete with their much larger rivals. JetBlue's west coast presence leaves a lot to be desired.

That said, it's seemed as the carriers coalesced in to monoliths, the flying experience only got more miserable, although at least some part of this is the pressure from the bottom that the ultra-low cost carriers introduce in a market. I'd be curious to see how much of the fall in fare price cited by the article accounts for the introduction in unbundled fares by the legacy carriers. IE, is this comparing a fare that a few years ago included a carry-on, seat selection, etc to a fare today that doesn't?

...also, the ruling actually includes a snippet of "Master of the House" from Les Miserables in relation to the business model of Spirit.

I find it amusing that in the same article it talks about how Spirit is struggling to turn a profit, and the reasoning for the justice department saying it a merger is anticompetitive is because it would remove the pressure that Spirit places upon the other airlines because of its lower prices.

Here's a thought. Maybe there's a reason Spirit is struggling to turn a profit. Maybe their prices are too low.

Sounds to me like the pressure from Spirit on the other airlines to lower prices won't last long anyway. If not a merger they probably can't survive as a business with their low prices.

I'm honestly tired of mergers over ~$100million or so when there are like 5 players in the market. Leaves consumers in the ditch as far as choice.

Spirit is such a pile of garbage that doing anything is better than doing nothing to spirit. We should make the judge fly Spirit for a few months and this merger will pass with flying colors.