JetBlue and Frontier still can't get over Spirit Airlines

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) and Frontier Airlines have had a lot of unfortunate similarities lately. Both reported their third-quarter results on Tuesday, and both have seen their stock prices plummet. In addition, the financial reports of both companies speak of Spirit Airlines (SAVE), the common ex of the two airlines.

Although JetBlue made big profitability gains and increased its operating margin by five percentage points, the company still lost $38 million on $2.4 billion in revenue. The share price has fallen more than 13%.

Meanwhile, Frontier's razor-thin margins have fallen in the opposite direction, with net income of $26 million on revenue of $935 million. The share price has fallen by almost 20%. But her two failed attempts to merge with Spirit continue to loom.

In March, JetBlue ended its relationship with Spirit after a judge blocked the union the year before on antitrust grounds. JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty calls the matter “three years of distraction”; In its earnings release, JetBlue says that “for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, special items” in its expense book “included liquor-related costs.”

The company's founder, who is no longer with JetBlue, even suggested that Spirit made a mistake by not choosing its previous suitor – Frontier Airlines.

Spirit originally planned to merge with Frontier, but called it off when JetBlue came along with a (financially) cheaper promotional offer. Although reports have recently surfaced that Spirit and Frontier are rekindling their former association, Frontier's earnings release shows that the company has never stopped considering the abandoned association: a footnote notes “$1 million in costs for the employee retention that arose in connection with the terminated merger with Spirit Airlines, Inc., for the nine months ending September 30, 2023.”

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