After a prior transaction between Spirit and Frontier Airlines fell through on Wednesday, JetBlue and Spirit announced a $3.8 billion merger agreement. The newly amalgamated airline will be the fifth-largest in the United States, posing a threat to the “Big Four” airlines’ supremacy.
Spirit’s shareholders rejected the proposal in favour of JetBlue’s more generous offer. JetBlue and Frontier have been wooing Spirit for months in the hopes of becoming a larger budget airline, which might result in lower airline ticket pricing.