Why Is JetBlue Hellbent on Buying Spirit? 

Ehhhh if you align with their political views. If not, good luck as an employee.

Only thing is once you combine the seniority pools that's when things get spicy

@@benderandownz What are JetBlue’s political views?

@@user-ew3dm1jq6j I would say more along the lines of political correctness over affiliation with one party. To an extend I completely understand but from the things I've heard they can take it too far and fire people for what seems like the smallest politically incorrect things. I guess you could categorize them as a "woke" company.

Jetblue doesn't really give a crap about its pilots. We are treated as a commodity here. You are fooling yourself my friend.

This actually is not allowed per JetBlue's pilot contract. The airline contractually cannot operate Spirit as its own brand and must integrate it.

Virgin America was supposed to be protected from integration/phase-out after being purchase by Alaska, and everyone believed that would be the case, because not only was that one of the key terms of its sale (to anyone) but there were even key legal provisions baked into the purchase contract to ensure this. However, instead of honoring the agreement, Alaska quickly sought to eliminate overlap and reduce costs so they doubled down on legal trickery to get out of that obligation; hence killing what was America's best airline. There's no reason JetBlue can't do something similar to make things so work if they purchased 🗑Spirit

Virgin Australia did something similar with TigerAir and it lost a lot of money

@@josiaevans Reading this comment breaks my heart. I still love and miss Virgin America to this day. I was a loyal customer and flew them often. I refuse to fly Alaska as a (admittedly completely ineffective) silent protest. If Virgin America had to go, I really wish it had been JetBlue that got them.

@@jvmehta6057 Legal contracts can be changed.

What did you hate? The only issue I have with JetBlue is that it literally cost 2x+ even when you consider all the other cost. At least for me 99% of the free things are not work 2x the price.

Spirit planes would be reconfigured with JetBlue interiors. It would take some time, but there would be no ULCC product left except the unbundled fares that B6 sells.

Even though I fly out of SFO I'm a big fan of JetBlue and prefer them over United when going to the East Coast. I'm concerned that buying Spirit could bring down JetBlue in the long run like Pan Am buying National did. Not to mention does JetBlue even have the money to retrofit Spirit's cabins to JetBlue standards quickly? At least Alaska could phase in the cabin retrofits on the planes they got from Virgin America because Virgin America's cabins were better than Alaska's. JetBlue passengers would revolt if they fly on a former Spirit plane still with the cabin still in Spirit configuration which means JetBlue will have to change the planes over quickly.

Spirit will no longer be spirit. It will take the name of JetBlue and be upgraded to become a first class carrier like JetBlue. Also, spirit will see alot of head chopping.

@@barbaracameron5610 Yes, by all of the 3rd party contractors Spirit uses outside of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport hub. Spirit has way too many contractors at other airports that are not true Spirit Airlines employees doing the work Spirit Airlines employees should be able to do themselves. They are definitely going to be going for sure because JetBlue will replace contractors with actual company-owned employees to do the work with full pay and full benefits. 3rd party contractors are notorious for mishandling luggage, losing it, and damaging it. JetBlue will end that and make sure actual employees that work for the company do it right like it's meant to be.

I'm from the Midwest and we need more direct flights to Cancun. Spirit's service is terrible and they cancel flights at the drop of a hat, even though they offer more flights. Frontier has good service, they don't cancel flights, but they only have a few flights a week direct to Cancun. I'd like to see JetBlue team up with Frontier for more direct flights per week to Cancun from Pittsburgh or Cancun.

Nobody gives a shit about the Midwest market Greedy decision by Spirit Hope the gov doesn't push it through

As a frequent flyer of spirit airlines ..I have had a feeling since the beginning that the merger was a bad idea and I’m so sorry as an employee that you have to face all of that. Thanks for shedding some transparency on the situation also. I wish you the very best on your new job 😃 Working for a dishonest company is a terrible experience..been there myself ..

@CapnKirk55 the word to summarize your reply is ‪corporatism‬.

In our capitalist system there is absolutely no such thing as loyalty. Betrayals are rewarded as long as they make money for the top dogs

To say Frontier has lower customer service standards is not the best comparison. Spirit is kind of down there too

🤣 I love that you think Delta is going to be better. It's only a matter of time before you cry about working there too. Grow up.

I have never been given a harder sell on a credit card than on a Frontier flight. As a former retail worker, I could feel the pressure the flight attendants were under to sell their credit card with what is probably an absurd interest rate.

I actually think it’s a great idea bc they will hold the cheap end of the ticket. Frontier is stupid they’re not even in ewr . I’ll be using it in august but I’m not too happy I kno they’ll increase all the prices bc spirit already has frontier is still low

spirit are worse IMO, having flown both extensively due to the cheap fares and having also been stranded on several occasions, the constant delayed flights cause missed connections by both... i tend to find the spirit flight attendants to be friendlier, but what good does that do if they show up 2 hours late and cause you to miss your connection

​@@bodaciousbeebee thank god they're not in EWR, they're the last company I want to see there 😂

it is a budget airline for a reason

The NEA with AA will likely be revoked regardless of a NK merger or not. Many lawsuits against it.

The partnership with American is considered unfair by other airlines and they are suing American over it. Just saying

They can’t be bought without be put up for sale though. But, yeah, if they fail here, they are not getting another chance and remain that small airline in the northeast

They should merge with American, but operate as their own entity as they do now with the services they have. Only thing is for American that's probably a no go

@@SAMann729 that would be blocked by the fdc

I hate American so having JetBlue add American flights is a pain for me because I have to double check if I’m truly flying JetBlue or not.

@@linearswitchguy9593 Well nothing really in the past few years but personally I don’t like airbus I think they are too automated and make lazy pilots. I also feel AA in the past has had a bad track record in the 90s and early 2000s. Lots of accidents that were pilot errors

@@linearswitchguy9593 Delta, JetBlue, southwest all have a better track record on safety and pilot errors. And all planes are automated, but airbus prides itself on being an easy drive plane to fly and it’s auto pilot and I think that makes for lazy pilots. Many pilots themselves have said airbus compared to Boeing is an easier plane.

@@LeolaGlamour So you think the airbus is a poor product and makes lazy and/or dangerous pilots. But then choose the airline that exclusively flies airbus airplanes as your favorite. Good work.

@@jimwarden6419 Yeah it sucks they like went with airbus but delta has a decent Boeing fleet. Southwest also has some Boeings but I know they mostly fly airbus. I’m not too concerned with airbus on US carriers anyways. I’ll still always try to not fly UA and AA.

yes

Spirits primary duty is to shareholders, I want the deal that gives me an extra 15,000 gain on my spirit stock

@@TheConservativeTraveller Jet Blue's offer is All-Cash. That means Spirit stockholders will cash out and have to re-invest in Jet Blue at a much higher rate. All-Cash deals only benefit substantial stockholders with a min of 5 % in a company. As a stockholder, you would want to merge with Frontier and have the company grow. Your stock merges too and grows.

This is probably the most intelligent comment in these postings. However, I do think this video makes a honest and trustworthy point.

No way. It's an all cash offer. In this market condition, getting cash at a much higher premium is no brainer. There will be 2000 better companies than any of these three to invest with that money.

You call this a simple comment ?

@@4evertrue830 Maybe I over did it… 😂

I think jetblue is smarter to lean into “mainline” pricing as they are more expensive than major flag airlines on say the new nyc to London routes but offer a product not worth the increased cost compared to their competitors they would be smarter to go all in as “the best us airline” making their product feel better and more competitive against international airlines and say a brand like southwest than to waste so much time buying spirit to try and be something they are not and will only make us pay more overall! Jetblue will never be a ULCC if they were jetblue would become spirit in this scenario and that’s not going to happen ever! It makes so much more sense to see frontier and spirit merge to offer the same or a better ULCC product that jetblue will never be. Sprit and frontier merged could be a real competitor for allegiant who is dominating medium markets that frontier and spirit used to be major players in that jetblue has 0 intention of ever going to! Jetblue is not trying to expand competition or service it is looking to further solidify its position as a virtual monopoly.

@@damnimloomin I have to disagree. JetBlue is not going to be able to price itself as if they were a major legacy carrier until the millennials are occupying the c suites of the majority of the multinational corporations. The legacy carriers have a higher cost structure than the ULCCs and the middle market airlines like JetBlue and Southwest because of the vastly different service offerings and decades of relationship building. The top 10% of a major airline's customer base accounts for nearly 50% of passenger revenue for reasons JetBlue can't compete with. Corporations are willing to pay big money to get people where they need to be under the right conditions, and JetBlue isn't in the same league. Flights can be delayed routinely and the company and the staff won't care..... as long as the delay is regularly around the same amount of time so that it can still be planned for. There can be occasionally missed connections if when deplaning from the first flight there is someone greeting the customer with a new itinerary so they don't have to stop thinking about business to waste the day trying to get to the destination. Customer service and airport lounges with all the amenities for conducting business, eating, and resting go a long way. If a passenger is traveling from the US to India for meetings and a change of plans requires a stop in Japan, the airline needs to be able to make the experience for the traveler as thoughtless as asking the waitress for a napkin. JetBlue is far from being able to earn the business of the most valuable airline customers. That being said, there is a generational shift coming with the millennials. They have spent most of their lives penny-pinching for the sake of the immediate numbers. They don't grasp that paying a little more for better service and options can lead to better decisions and more long-term profits.

Ummm…. That’s quite a summary

He's still around? 😳 Dude must be past or creeping up on 90.

If Alaska is any hint, no chances Spirit way would left in the post-merger company.

Your logic is flawed in this aspect my friend... Orlando is a base for Frontier too. Frontier will very soon have a presence that Spirit does not...Frontier is building a maintenance hangar there where as Spirit has no plans...

But screw O'hare airport right?

Don't worry, the current seating will be the first to go lol

Not now, the new interiors made things much worse

The problem is that everyone loves them but everyone flies Spirit because it’s cheaper.

if that's the case they have a lot of retrofitting to do considering Spirit aircraft are not generously layed out. I just want the monopoly of American at DFW to end but that's their hometown. They made flights into and out of Dallas more expensive than it needs to be

@@denziiey then just fly from Dallas love field with southwest? Though yea the monopoly at Dallas fort worth is sad I would want it to end.

@@greymcwhirter6753 I used to fly southwest a lot but now they're getting just as expensive. Plus I'm from the Caribbean and only American has direct flights to my country so Southwest would create more expense. It socks. My family in NY boast $100 tickets while here the average is 5 - 600

@@denziiey oh that makes sense hope that It could become cheaper you to fly there.

@@greymcwhirter6753 I got excited when Jetblue and American formed a partner ship cause now that jetblue flies here o have another option and they're my favorite airline :)

You can blame the local government for that.

@@JasonParker98 I forgot what happened actually. Maybe you have time to explain again.

There are similarities, though. At the time Alaska is facing tough competition from Delta in SEA or West Coast in general, and they were the small fish. They were desperate. Jetblue wasn't (it's still not much smaller than post-merger Alaska), and they knew they could easily win Virgin America's customer. This time Jetblue is in Alaska's position. OK Spirit's A32X aircraft and personel have more synergies to Jetblue than Virgin's assesses to Alaska, thoguh. Interestingly, it's also Delta that puts pressure on Jetblue.

its not a merger as far a Jetblue goes. Jetblue is looking to BUY spirit so all planes and staff will be remodeled and retrained to fit Jetblue's culture, eventually.

Why would two LCC’s in any way be good? I think it fits JetBlue more than Frontier or Virgin ever could. Exact same fleet and engines (besides A319s). The JetBlue footprint can be expanded to the whole country instead of being a East coast thing. And Frontier will fill the ULCC void Spirit had. Win win win win for all.

More than a 3-hour flight? I'd say more than a 90-minute flight. The discomfort isn't worth it unless you're desperate. I've had some very poor customer service interactions with Frontier as well when they've lost my bags and wouldn't even get them to my house, but required I travel back to the airport (and still pay the checked baggage fees). People complain about the big airlines, but it's pretty nice to have a huge network of routes, partner airlines and overall positive experience. I traveled 75% for work for years, and I learned to value comfort and consistency.

There isn't one person in charge of spirit. That isn't how companies work. There is a board and shareholders. The board has to agree on things. If the shareholders feel the board does something that wasn't the best thing for their company, the shareholders can sue the board. The board needs to spend weeks contemplating the situation and discussing with shareholders before anything happens. It's not the same as deciding whether you want spicy fries or regular.

@@YHDiamond the term "hypothetical" must be really confusing for you.

LOL!

Frontier and Spirit also use a320 family and both would also compliment each-others routes.

I’m wondering what if they go three-way? Spirit gets split in half. Jetblue will take one half (west coast hubs, and planes), while Frontier takes the other half (east coast hubs)

I like the idea of spirit being a subsidiary of jetblue

It was nice seeing JetBlue making their flights to Hawaii from the Long Beach city base or station for them. That was nice because Hawaii is serious revenue dollars for the west coast!! To me that was hard to close Long Beach and yes, the highway traffic in L.A. is crazy!! But JetBlue should have stayed there in Long Beach. And now for this year hearing JetBlue from New York flying to London, UK! Well, that is really nice and great revenue dollars. You are right we will see about this merger. And yes, in order to fly long haul coast to coast or over the ocean, having a least Business Class seating cabin is so needed!!! The business travelers men/women and leg room needs a good aircraft cabin space!!!!!!

It's airport slots. Pilots come and go and retire. Aircraft can be sold. The reason are the slots!! Very difficult to get.

It’s definitely the slots! I work for one of the legacy carriers. Everyone knows the airlines are fighting for slots.

Yeah that's a lie. As a flight attendant I can 100% tell you I have yet to meet a single person in the company that wants JetBlue to buy us. Jetblue treats its staff like trash. The people at JetBlue don't even want the merger to happen because they know if JetBlue buys us then they're going to be treated even more crappy.

Tyty

Ugh, I hope not.

Blue + yellow = green

I think they would adopt the Spirit livery concept, but with Jetblue titles and a blue fuselage, similar to Breeze and ITA

Yes JetBlue buying Spirit has some big Pan Am buying National vibes which helped sink Pan Am in the end. Not to mention unlike Alaska Airlines when they bought Virgin America, JetBlue is going to have to burn through a lot of cash quickly to retrofit the Cabins of Spirit planes. JetBlue passengers aren't going to like paying JetBlue prices to fly on a A320/1 still with a Spirit interior.

Like Santa Ana?

It might get pushed back to July 29th from what I last heard. Let's hope that the deal is July 8th. JetBlue-Spirit merger > Frontier-Spirit merger.

Billion lol.

@@calebniederhofer6529 They got robbed then. 🤣

And Alaska Airlines isn't even staying true to their name anymore. They may as well rename to California Airlines or West Coast Airlines or Coastal Airlines...heck maybe even revive the AirCal branding

Yes. Frontier offered to make the headquarters in Dania Beach Florida. Sprit is building a new headquarters building, so; it makes sense to go for the offer from Frontier. Jet blue won't move out of NY. Also Sprit is based @ FLL.

Here's where my opinion will differ. I worked 4 different airlines: Midwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Envoy Air (one of American Airlines's regional carriers, formerly known as American Eagle). While JetBlue's business model is complete different Spirit's, they are alike in many categories: Similar aircraft, experienced pilots, co-pilots, and flight attendants they know Air Buses, and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. JetBlue and Spirit both have Air Buses, so it makes it easier for the experienced Air Bus In-Flight and Flight Deck crews from Spirit to become JetBlue Crewmembers. It will be less training as far as acquiring an airline with experience on a certain aircraft. That being said, it won't deter JetBlue from having to not open more positions for Pilots, Co-Pilots, and Flight Attendants because it will be badly needed, not just for Air Buses, but the Embraer 190s and 195s. JetBlue has a far better route network than Frontier. Frontier has no transatlantic offering for those who like to travel beyond the Atlantic Ocean east of the U.S. with more transatlantic destinations likely to come in some years. JetBlue is not merged with American Airlines and won't be and I believe that's where people from the general public and the DOJ and ISS and the government all have it confused. JetBlue and American are working together in terms of helping each other's passengers get on flights to combat the excessive delays and cancellations they're getting hit with just like every other airline is with unprecedented demand of air travel with level of short-staffing that is plaguing airlines in all departments. As a former Frontier Airlines employee Ramp Agent, but originally and technically a former Midwest Airlines Ramp Agent 13 years ago in 2009, when Midwest and Frontier both got acquired from Republic Airways and became a Frontier Airlines employee, not even a year into the full merger, Frontier laid my old coworkers and I off from 2011-2013/2014 from MKE Airport and it was only 2-3 years later in 2016-2017 the DEN Airport employees at Frontier got the same brunt as I myself from MKE Airport and my coworkers did and we all got replaced out by 3rd party vendors in MKE with less pay and zero benefits. Take it from me, I wish the former Midwest Airlines CEO had went with the AirTran deal years ago. The move by Midwest to go Republic and Frontier was short-sighted and those business models were completely polar opposite and I cannot make that up. Lastly, your hub...FLL Airport. Spirit merging with Frontier is bad business for you and your coworkers because you will get the same results I was affected with 12 years ago and as much as the general public hates Spirit Airlines, Spirit needs an airline that will treat them better and give them all of the amenities you would want your crews and your airport coworkers would want. If your company's board doesn't get your CEO, Ted Christie to step down from his role and you guys at Spirit at FLL Airport who are the only company-owned employees worked the ticket counter and ramp operations whilst everywhere else outside of FLL Airport is already contracted out by 3rd party vendors by Spirit Airlines now, you are all going to lose your jobs and it's a very stressful job market out here now with airlines struggling and delaying putting every last position out in every city that needs workers. You Spirit workers at FLL will get severance packages and early retirement buyouts and the same will go for the Miramar office workers. Frontier will make those office workers either move to Denver at Frontier's headquarters to remain having a job or they too will get severance packages and early retirement buyouts just like the FLL Airport employees. JetBlue too has a hub at FLL Airport. JetBlue has far more company-owned employees than Spirit does. JetBlue will get rid of all of the 3rd party contractors Spirit has all of its airports that do not have their own employees to do the jobs that should be done by actual employees in favor of hiring their own employees with you all combined with them. JetBlue already has a training center in Orlando across from Orlando International Airport; JetBlue University. JetBlue acquiring Spirit when your new training Center in Dania Beach is done if it isn't already completed by now will benefit JetBlue and Spirit combined because when the JetBlue University Orlando Training Center is full, the Spirit Dania Beach Training Center will be a secondary location to get people hired on for the airport work and aircraft duty as fully trained and hands-on for OJT at all airports nationwide when merged as soon as possible. The office workers at the Miramar Headquarters will not have to move their entire livelihood to Denver under Frontier and JetBlue will certainly have the Miramar office jobs be permanent work-from-home so that those people can save money on fuel and not have to drive to work in these trying times. Your CEO does not have your best interest for you or your coworkers. You will get put on the streets like I did having to find another job and it took me a while to get in with JetBlue Airways, but I did but my time was short-lived with them, but if I could go back to JetBlue at MCO Airport, I would and I will the next time they open full-time externally. Trust me from layoff experience, you do not and I repeat DO NOT want to have anything to do with Frontier. You are by far most safer with JetBlue as JetBlue will save all of your jobs at FLL Airport.

@@marksheiman1538 Frontier does not want to make anything in Florida their headquarters. I can promise you and guarantee you that. Frontier didn't even want Milwaukee, WI as their secondary hub from their main hub in Denver, CO. If that training center in Dania Beach is already done and Spirit gets caught up in the bid with Frontier, that training center will go to waste and never be used and be forced to get sold off to some other company that'll have a better use for that building. Frontier is not in the popular category in South when it comes to flights at tourist destinations. Frontier only has Pilots, Co-Pilots, and Flight Attendants as their only company-owned employees. Frontier does not have official Ticket/Gate Agents or Ramp Agents. JetBlue originally wanted to move their headquarters to Florida whether in Orlando or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood or Dania Beach because the building they use in Long Island City, New York is costing them way too much money for them to operate like many businesses in New York which is why a lot of New York businesses are moving to Florida and even Texas and Arizona and I still think there is a great chance JetBlue will still move its headquarters to Florida because I don't believe their lease at the building they use in Long Island City is indefinite. The jobs at L.I.C. will probably just be moved over to work-from-home so that those New Yorkers who work at JetBlue's offices don't have to move and I believe JetBlue still has intentions on moving to Central Florida or South Florida for the reasons that they should like every other business from New York that moved to Florida. No state income tax. Spirit's new Dania Beach Training Center with JetBlue's merger will be very useful and beneficial.

@@antoinelee-thomas9536 the deal is off.