Robin Hayes, the ebullient chief executive of JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O), was on an Amtrak train on Tuesday coming back from Boston when news broke that his company had made an offer to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc (SAVE.N). Hayes said the company was not yet ready to go public with its offer for the ultra-low-cost carrier, but the news leak forced its hand. On a conference call the next morning, the reasons were apparent as JetBlue struggled to convince investors of the rationale behind its unsolicited $3.6 billion bid. The surprise move by the New York-based carrier has baffled Wall Street because it seeks to combine two companies with very little in common other than fleets dominated by Airbus jets. As a result, the deal is expected to be very expensive for JetBlue, which raises questions about any assumed synergies. JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company's stock has fallen about 19% since the news broke. JetBlue shares were down 4.2% at $11.92 on Thursday afternoon. A main concern of investors is the starkly different business models of the two carriers. Spirit is a no-frills carrier that relies on fares stripped down to the lowest possible level, supplemented by charges for extras such as booking through a call center, a strategy known as unbundling. The success of its business model is driven by a low cost structure that has allowed it to offer low base fares and maintain high profit margins.<br/>
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Lynx Air made its inaugural flight Thursday, marking the latest entrant into Canada's increasingly crowded budget airline market. The ultra-low-cost carrier's Boeing 737 Max jetliner took off from Calgary on Thursday and landed in Vancouver later that morning. Calgary-based Lynx, formerly known as Enerjet, aims to operate 148 flights a week on more than a dozen routes by July, all within Canada, said CE Merren McArthur. Several ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCCs) have been beefing up since the summer in preparation for a clash with Air Canada and WestJet Airlines – and with each other – particularly for domestic flights and sun destinations. Flair Airlines was down to one aircraft a year ago, but expects to have 20 737s in its fleet by the end of June as the Edmonton-based airline adds routes from Victoria, B.C., to St. John’s, N.L. Meanwhile, WestJet budget subsidiary Swoop continues to expand, unveiling nine new routes out of Edmonton in November. McArthur, who took the controls at Lynx last summer, remains undaunted by her competitors. "The competition is growing and the demand is growing as well. I think there is a lot of pent-up demand as Canada is opening up, and we’re seeing that in the bookings," she said in a phone interview from Vancouver.<br/>
El Al Israel Airlines has appointed Dina Ben Tal Ganancia, its present vice president for commercial and industry affairs, as CEO, the company said on Thursday. Ben Tal Ganancia will succeed Avigal Soreq, who was appointed CEO of Israel's flag carrier in late 2020 and who said he would step down last month to become CEO of energy company Delek US Holdings. The cash strapped El Al last month signed a non-binding deal for a $130 million loan from insurer Phoenix Group (PHOE1.TA), part of a government bailout package in which El Al was forced to lay off one-third of its workforce and trim its fleet as the coronavirus pandemic drove sales down.<br/>
India's Tata Group on Thursday launched its much-awaited e-commerce "super app" offering everything from apparel to air tickets in a renewed push for a slice of a fast growing market dominated by Amazon.com and Walmart's Flipkart. Tata Neu, which has been in the works for about two years, is a single platform for the group's brands, including Westside fashion, Air Asia tickets, Croma electronics, the Taj group of hotels, BigBasket online grocery and 1mg online pharmacy. "Our aim is to make the lives of Indian consumers simpler and easier," Tata's Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on LinkedIn, adding that its joint venture airline Vistara and recently acquired Air India, as well as watch brand Titan will be available on the app soon. The 154-year-old group, which raked in $103b in revenue in 2020-21, is a leading player in steelmaking, IT outsourcing and utilities but arguably best known internationally as the owner of British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover. It also makes cars at home under its own brand.<br/>