Spirit Airlines was destroyed by Elizabeth Warren and Biden

[Rawley]

Thought so. No, a merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines would make the market less free. It would have resulted in Monopoly power, fewer choices for consumers and higher prices. Those higher prices not being the result of increased efficiencies better technologies. No, the merger would have built nothing and additional profits would come from "rents". That is what a free market is supposed to be free from, "rents".

As to Spirit going under, doubt it has an impact on how "free" the market is one way or another. The reality is their business model failed and there is no reason whatsoever to prop up a failed business UNLESS it has to do with national security or public health. I doubt an second rate airline contributes to either.

Proud to display your abject ignorance, huh?

My flight from LAX to Reno next weekend was $160 on Spirit.
Southwest $776
Delta $773
American $773

But having them go under makes the market more "free" and lowers the prices. LOL

 

[Jaxsie]

Your belief that they could have never achieved profitability is just speculation. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just what it is.

And your belief that they could have achieved profitability but for fuel prices is also speculation. They had years to achieve profitability, and it did not happen in seven years. And through two bankruptcies.

 

[Marener]

And your belief that they could have achieved profitability but for fuel prices is also speculation. They had years to achieve profitability, and it did not happen in seven years. And through two bankruptcies.

As I pointed out, it's not like those 7 years were smooth sailling for the entire world economy.

Yes, it is speculation. All I said is that we will never know if they could have pulled it off, but that it was totally impossible to do because of the Iranian war.

 

[Winston]

Those customers will now be paying the higher fares of other airlines and all of those employees are no longer employed. What did anyone gain by not allowing the merger?

Dumbass!

First, it's a false choice, allow the merger or Spirit goes under. The choice was, will the proposed merger result in too much market concentration and reduce competition. A judge ruled that it would in March of 2024, the first time Jetblue made the offer. It was confirmed once again. The reality is a merger of those two companies, and thereby their routings, would be illegal in 183 markets.

Unfortunately for JetBlue, internal documents were released that indicated Jet Blue was planning on removing an average of 24 seats per plane and jacking rates up between 24 and 40% after the merger. The whole strategy, cut capacity, increase prices, and extract 25% more revenue per seat. I mean there is so many places to go here. Rent-seeking, instead of make more pie, you take more of the pie that is already there. And there it is, make LESS pie, and take more of the pie, dollars, that are there. And how, literally, by taking it out of your ass.

Allowing Spirit to fail still preserves the availability of those routes. Other low-cost competitors can come in and purchase them. But if the merger would have went through, those routes would be gone.

 

[Winston]

Those customers will now be paying the higher fares of other airlines and all of those employees are no longer employed. What did anyone gain by not allowing the merger?

Dumbass!

Consumers, dumbass. See my last post. No one has answered me yet so let me see if I got this straight. The government has no Constitutiional Authority to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or heal the sick. But by God, cheap airline tickets on no-frill airlines flying tin cans with jet-engines and wings attached, needs to be a top priority.

 

[hadit]

They filed for bankruptcy in 2024. Four years of xiden’s economy, including Xiden gas forced them into bankruptcy

You were NOT supposed to remember that.

 

[hadit]

First, it's a false choice, allow the merger or Spirit goes under. The choice was, will the proposed merger result in too much market concentration and reduce competition. A judge ruled that it would in March of 2024, the first time Jetblue made the offer. It was confirmed once again. The reality is a merger of those two companies, and thereby their routings, would be illegal in 183 markets.

Unfortunately for JetBlue, internal documents were released that indicated Jet Blue was planning on removing an average of 24 seats per plane and jacking rates up between 24 and 40% after the merger. The whole strategy, cut capacity, increase prices, and extract 25% more revenue per seat. I mean there is so many places to go here. Rent-seeking, instead of make more pie, you take more of the pie that is already there. And there it is, make LESS pie, and take more of the pie, dollars, that are there. And how, literally, by taking it out of your ass.

Allowing Spirit to fail still preserves the availability of those routes. Other low-cost competitors can come in and purchase them. But if the merger would have went through, those routes would be gone.

Another term for cutting capacity is making more room. The experience of flying for the average passenger makes a sardine can look comfortable.

 

[Zincwarrior]

I never said fuel prices didn’t have “anything” to do with it, did I? What I did say and I will repeat is that Spirit Airlines was financially insolvent. They had filed two bankruptcy’s and failed to gain a bail out. It is my opinion they would not have been able to all of the sudden after seven years start showing a profit. They were given plenty of chances and failed. That is on them.

Their business model clearly was not working.

 

[Godboy]

They couldn’t afford TRUMPgas

If a war in Iran causes them to go bankrupt, then they have no business being in the airline industry in the first place.

 

[Winston]

Proud to display your abject ignorance, huh?

My flight from LAX to Reno next weekend was $160 on Spirit.
Southwest $776
Delta $773
American $773

But having them go under makes the market more "free" and lowers the prices. LOL

Allowing them to go under preserves the routes. A merger would have eliminated them.

No one has responded as to why the government should even give a happy damn about a low cost airlines. I mean it is comical. Cut food stamps, ah, I don't get food stamps. Cut health insurance premiums, ah, I get mine at work. Limit polling stations, ah, I vote in the basement at my local church. Eliminate cheap airline tickets, OH HELL, the government best do something about it.

The merger was a brazen effort at rent-seeking. Jet Blue has been up Spirit's ass for years. It would have made extra profits, in the form of "rents", easy pickings. The reality is, this economy loses something like THREE TRILLION dollars a year in rents. Estimates are that our incomes have been reduced by 45%, and GDP is 25% less, than where it would be due to the cumulative effect of those rents over the last forty years.

I mean you can look at graphs, say, GDP growth year over year, the trend line moves downward around 1980. At the same time, income growth collapsed to near nothing while productivity soared. Working to eliminate rent seeking is the golden ticket. I mean the numbers speak for themselves. Deficit, we wouldn't have one. Wealth inequality, well yeah, it will always be around but there will be fewer Mega-yachts and more F-150's.

This has been at the core of the messages from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. But talk about MSM, does anyone even know what rent-seeking is? But this whole thread is a master class in the Republican art of deception and deflection. An action to address rent-seeking behavior and prevent an oligopoly market is opposed by screams of jobs, cheap airfare an government involvement in the private market.

 

[Winston]

Another term for cutting capacity is making more room. The experience of flying for the average passenger makes a sardine can look comfortable.

Agreed. But who did that? What happened to Pan Am?

I remember Dad coming home from his first plane flight. He was walking on air, so proud, "business". Late 60's, maybe early 70's. I sat in awe listening to his stories. Nice comfortable seat, said he had his feet kicked back. He even got a Coca Cola, and peanuts. So, 30 years later, I am excited to get on my first plane. And I am thinking, man, this is a jet, a real beauty. When I get on things go downhill fast. Damn jammed up together like sardines and when that thing starts rumbling down the runway, shaking and quaking, I done know US sardines are zipped up IN A CAN, and I am about to freak out.

But no, we did it. We did it to ourselves and it is not just air travel, it is groceries, it is furniture, it is clothing, appliances, cars. I mean it is always the same. When it is a race to the bottom, you eventually get there, and then you go, "THIS SUCKS".

 

[rightwinger]

If a war in Iran causes them to go bankrupt, then they have no business being in the airline industry in the first place.

50 percent increase in the cost of jet fuel caused them to go bankrupt

Short-term (since early 2026 geopolitical shock)

• Prices jumped about 55% within weeks after the initial Middle East conflict escalation
• At the peak in early April 2026, they were up as much as ~95% compared to pre-conflict levels
• Some estimates put the surge at 100%+ (roughly doubling) globally
• In certain markets or analyses, increases as high as ~125% have been reported

Price levels (to give context)

• Late 2025: about $2.10–$2.30 per gallon
• Early April 2026 peak: around $4.88 per gallon
• Recent levels: roughly $3.80–$4.00 per gallon