For more than 20 years, JetBlue has been connecting New York City with central and upstate New York with low airfares on large jets and in the years since has been providing high-quality and affordable air service to destinations in the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.
We are proud to be the only U.S. passenger airline based here and have invested back in our city’s success — from our flagship Terminal 5 at JFK and the upcoming Terminal 6, to our deep support of community partners to enhance civic projects, by giving back to the community, and even by painting our planes to support the FDNY and NYPD.
As we think about our city’s future success, we look forward to expanding New York’s Hometown Airline to even more destinations, especially through our acquisition of Spirit Airlines. Even though the combination will unleash benefits for the traveling public, and despite bi-partisan political support across the country, critics have mischaracterized the facts and are threatening our ability to expand JetBlue’s unique model of low fares and great service.
We must set the record straight about our combination with Spirit — which has been called the “anti-merger merger” — because it is our best shot at boosting competition in the airline industry. Earlier this month, Rep. Adriano Espaillat argued in this very paper that airline competition should be encouraged. We agree, and we’ve laid out a plan to do just that.
Since our founding, we have worked to bring humanity back to air travel. We came into the market as a disruptor to bring a better and more affordable alternative to the dominant “Big Four” carriers — American, United, Delta and Southwest. New Yorkers loved our fresh approach, and it fueled our growth here over the last two decades.
Today, we are giving the Big Four a run for their money in New York and other markets where we’ve been able to expand. Further growing JetBlue on a national scale will inject needed competitive pressure on the Big Four, which today have a lock on about 80% of the U.S. air travel market.
By combining with Spirit, JetBlue will go head-to-head with the dominant airlines in more places — and that’s good for consumers. When we enter a market, nonstop legacy fares decrease significantly as they adjust their pricing to compete with JetBlue’s unique combination of low fares and great service — coined by MIT as the JetBlue Effect. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Justice touted last year in federal court: “When JetBlue Competes, Travelers Save Billions.”
JetBlue and Spirit offer different experiences, and we think that converting Spirit into JetBlue is a win for travelers. Not only do we offer the most legroom in coach, but we also have TVs on every seatback, free Wi-Fi, free snacks, the most caring crewmembers in the skies. JetBlue is the only airline with a Customer Bill of Rights. Given the Biden administration’s focus on the travel experience, Washington should welcome more JetBlue.
With JetBlue, customers get more choices, including an ultra-low-fare option similar to Spirit but with fewer add-on fees.
Critics also highlight the loss of Spirit’s ultra-low-cost model, but ultra-low-cost carriers make up just a small portion of the market — less than 10% — and other carriers offering that model will replace Spirit if there is unmet demand. Indeed, JetBlue is opening access for other ultra-low-cost airlines to grow by divesting Spirit’s assets in New York and other markets. Living up to that promise, we announced plans to transfer Spirit’s assets to Frontier Airlines at New York’s LaGuardia and to Allegiant at Newark and other airports.
Meanwhile, we have also continued to expand our one-of-a-kind offerings to Europe from New York. For example, JetBlue now flies to London, Paris and Amsterdam — disrupting the transatlantic airline market, and introducing a new era of direct, low-fare and customer-focused travel for leisure and business customers.
Finally, when it comes to our people — 10,000 in New York alone — we remain fiercely committed. In our 23-year history, we have stood by our promise to not furlough any crewmembers, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will continue once our acquisition of Spirit is complete. Our people have always been at the heart of everything we do, and that will won’t change.
The JetBlue and Spirit merger is crucial to creating a viable fifth national competitor to the Big Four airlines. Keeping the status quo is not a solution to where we are. We look forward to completing our merger with Spirit and inspiring humanity for New Yorkers and the millions of travelers we welcome to our great city each year.
Hayes is the CEO of JetBlue Airways.
Robin Hayes
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