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walkitoutJetBlue attempted to acquire / merge with Spirit not long ago, and it was nixed on competitive reasons. At the time, I was pretty sure Spirit would wind up going under, altho I sure didn’t expect it to happen quite this fast. I mean, predicting an airline will go under (or be acquired/merged but generally cease to conduct business in its current form) is largely like just waiting long enough; it feels like cheating to predict it.
So today’s the day! No more Spirit. I’m not sad, because Spirit, like RyanAir, is an airline I bought tickets on that never got used. Always feels like the gym club model — people who buy tix and don’t use them subsidize those who buy tix and use them. Other airlines are offering to sell tickets at prices higher than Spirit’s but lower than their own normal prices, in order to get people where they are going. Normal capitalism, basically. JetBlue’s announcement is moderately amusing and can be found here:
https://news.jetblue.com/latest-news/press-release-details/2026/JetBlue-Steps-in-to-Help-Stranded-Spirit-Customers-with-99-Rescue-Fares-Announces-Plans-to-Add-11-Destinations-From-Fort-Lauderdale/default.aspx
I have to ask, tho, is this what we will be seeing going forward? A merger or acquisition nixed because it is anticompetitive, followed by the target going under, and the would-be acquirer Magnanimously picking through the wreckage, Saving the Stranded, and interviewing the abruptly unemployed?
Obviously, I’m primarily interested in what we can do so that there’s just less flying in general, because flying is a real climate issue (I say this entirely hypocritically, as I continue to fly across continent and across ocean) (I can’t even use the drive to Richmond and back as a virtuous avoidance of flying because I was going to fly I just didn’t like the seats / flight times coming home when I went to book it and decided to drive instead). And also, I feel like this might not be limited to airlines.
ETA: I guess another possible way to think about this is how Borders’ rapid collapse enabled B&N to survive until today-ish. Super different situations on so many ways (with Borders’ being the expensive end of things rather than the cheap end, and it all being triggered by competitive pressure from Elsewhere rather than fuel prices jumping as a result of an unexpected war), but perhaps it enables a clearer way of imagining the immediate future.
So today’s the day! No more Spirit. I’m not sad, because Spirit, like RyanAir, is an airline I bought tickets on that never got used. Always feels like the gym club model — people who buy tix and don’t use them subsidize those who buy tix and use them. Other airlines are offering to sell tickets at prices higher than Spirit’s but lower than their own normal prices, in order to get people where they are going. Normal capitalism, basically. JetBlue’s announcement is moderately amusing and can be found here:
https://news.jetblue.com/latest-news/press-release-details/2026/JetBlue-Steps-in-to-Help-Stranded-Spirit-Customers-with-99-Rescue-Fares-Announces-Plans-to-Add-11-Destinations-From-Fort-Lauderdale/default.aspx
I have to ask, tho, is this what we will be seeing going forward? A merger or acquisition nixed because it is anticompetitive, followed by the target going under, and the would-be acquirer Magnanimously picking through the wreckage, Saving the Stranded, and interviewing the abruptly unemployed?
Obviously, I’m primarily interested in what we can do so that there’s just less flying in general, because flying is a real climate issue (I say this entirely hypocritically, as I continue to fly across continent and across ocean) (I can’t even use the drive to Richmond and back as a virtuous avoidance of flying because I was going to fly I just didn’t like the seats / flight times coming home when I went to book it and decided to drive instead). And also, I feel like this might not be limited to airlines.
ETA: I guess another possible way to think about this is how Borders’ rapid collapse enabled B&N to survive until today-ish. Super different situations on so many ways (with Borders’ being the expensive end of things rather than the cheap end, and it all being triggered by competitive pressure from Elsewhere rather than fuel prices jumping as a result of an unexpected war), but perhaps it enables a clearer way of imagining the immediate future.