JetBlue’s CEO Faults ‘Short-Sighted’ DOJ on Airline Mergers
The top executive at JetBlue Airways Corp. called out federal antitrust authorities for policies she says have exacerbated competitive imbalances and made it harder for small airlines to turn a profit. CEO Joanna Geraghty said in an interview that the US Department of Justice has been “a bit short-sighted” when evaluating corporate acquisitions in recent years. JetBlue has had two tie-ups dashed by regulators recently, including a planned acquisition of Spirit Airlines Inc. that fell apart earlier this year. The comments come days after rival Alaska Air Group Inc. was allowed to complete its purchase of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., the first significant merger in the US airline industry in years. Still, the deal isn’t likely to alter the broader dynamics in the industry, which is dominated by four large carriers. “If you look today at the airlines that are profitable and those that aren’t,” regulators are “playing right into the hands of the big guys,” Geraghty told Bloomberg Thursday. “That really requires them to take a look at their antitrust policies and make sure that they’re not so focused on a textbook approach and much more on a practical, real life approach.” JetBlue’s deal for Spirit was scuttled by a federal judge earlier this year after the Biden administration said the tie-up would eliminate a deep discount carrier and harm consumers by reducing competition and increasing fares. An alliance with American Airlines Group Inc. that focused on New York and Boston met the same fate and was dismantled. Geraghty is currently leading a rebuilding of JetBlue, which hasn’t been consistently profitable for four years, in part due to a focus on securing growth through the deals. Spirit is struggling financially and recently furloughed some pilots. Geraghty said regulators fail to understand the human impact of their decisions to block some mergers. “The textbook DOJ person needs to look those people in the eye and realize their decisions have impacted people’s lives,” she said.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-09-20/unaligned/jetblue2019s-ceo-faults-2018short-sighted2019-doj-on-airline-mergers
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JetBlue’s CEO Faults ‘Short-Sighted’ DOJ on Airline Mergers
The top executive at JetBlue Airways Corp. called out federal antitrust authorities for policies she says have exacerbated competitive imbalances and made it harder for small airlines to turn a profit. CEO Joanna Geraghty said in an interview that the US Department of Justice has been “a bit short-sighted” when evaluating corporate acquisitions in recent years. JetBlue has had two tie-ups dashed by regulators recently, including a planned acquisition of Spirit Airlines Inc. that fell apart earlier this year. The comments come days after rival Alaska Air Group Inc. was allowed to complete its purchase of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., the first significant merger in the US airline industry in years. Still, the deal isn’t likely to alter the broader dynamics in the industry, which is dominated by four large carriers. “If you look today at the airlines that are profitable and those that aren’t,” regulators are “playing right into the hands of the big guys,” Geraghty told Bloomberg Thursday. “That really requires them to take a look at their antitrust policies and make sure that they’re not so focused on a textbook approach and much more on a practical, real life approach.” JetBlue’s deal for Spirit was scuttled by a federal judge earlier this year after the Biden administration said the tie-up would eliminate a deep discount carrier and harm consumers by reducing competition and increasing fares. An alliance with American Airlines Group Inc. that focused on New York and Boston met the same fate and was dismantled. Geraghty is currently leading a rebuilding of JetBlue, which hasn’t been consistently profitable for four years, in part due to a focus on securing growth through the deals. Spirit is struggling financially and recently furloughed some pilots. Geraghty said regulators fail to understand the human impact of their decisions to block some mergers. “The textbook DOJ person needs to look those people in the eye and realize their decisions have impacted people’s lives,” she said.<br/>
