Trial over JetBlue's Spirit merger ends with US judge mulling options

A federal judge considering the US Justice Department's bid to block JetBlue Airways' proposed $3.8b acquisition of Spirit Airlines raised the possibility on Tuesday of letting the deal proceed if JetBlue divests more assets as the antitrust trial wrapped up. US District Judge William Young told a JetBlue lawyer that he expected airline fares would rise if no-frills, ultra-low-cost Spirit no longer was around to "undercut everyone else" and drive down prices. But the judge, who will decide the case in the non-jury trial in Boston, told both sides that he was having "trouble" with the Justice Department's request for a permanent injunction blocking a deal in a "dynamic industry facing unique opportunities and challenges in the post-COVID environment." Young raised the prospect of further divestitures by JetBlue, which has already agreed to sell-off gates and slots at airports in New York City, Boston, Newark, New Jersey and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to try to address US regulators' concerns. Lawyers for both sides delivered closing arguments in a trial that began on Oct. 31. The Justice Department, six US states and the District of Columbia sued in March to challenge the merger as unlawfully harmful to competition in the airline industry. Young said he had "seen cases where a court has decided the divestitures were close but not sufficient and then has proceeded to say this would pass muster if there were this divestiture or that divestiture."<br/>