Plans CANCELED for a "Budget Airline Behemoth"

If you’re going to visit Disney World soon, you’ll need to start working on your travel plans. Are you going to drive to the parks or take an airplane? And if you’ll fly, which airline are you going to use?

Time to fly

We keep an eye on current travel news because we know that getting to Disney World is a big part of the planning and expense of a vacation. Recently, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Frontier Airlines have all been in the news for some drama surrounding potential mergers. JetBlue and Frontier both wanted to purchase Spirit Airlines in order to create one huge budget airline in the US. Now, we have a new update about this situation.

Originally, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines were working on a merger agreement. Following their announcement about this plan, JetBlue made a hostile bid to purchase Spirit Airlines outright. Some have called the merger plans a “budget airline behemoth,” since the combination of the 2 airlines would create the 5th largest airline in the US.

On an airplane

Spirit Airlines rejected this offer and proposed a shareholder vote for the Frontier merger instead. However, according to CNBC, Spirit delayed that vote 4 times as they “struggled to drum up enough shareholder support.”

©Frontier

Now, shareholders have voted that Spirit Airlines terminate the merger with Frontier Airlines. This change took place on Wednesday, July 27th. The vote was only about the Frontier merger, not the JetBlue takeover.

©Spirit Airlines

It’s possible that the terminated Frontier deal will make a JetBlue takeover more likely now. JetBlue has offered $3.7 billion for Spirit Airlines, and if the proposal is accepted, they plan to “refurbish its planes in JetBlue style, featuring seatback screens and legroom” (CNBC). The airlines are still in talks over this plan.

©JetBlue Airways

One of the obstacles that Spirit and JetBlue would face is that they need support from the Justice Department before they can merge. The Biden administration previously decided to “crack down on consolidation,” so it’s possible that they would not approve the takeover.

We’ll continue to watch for more updates on this developing story. In the meantime you can check out a budget airline that’s adding 2 new nonstop routes to Orlando, or see our readers’ best tips for traveling to Disney World.

Flying on Southwest

If you’re traveling with little ones, make sure you read our article about snacks and other ideas to make traveling with kids easier. Keep following AllEars for more tips, planning hacks, and breaking news!