Alison Sider

So the Justice Department is very concerned that this merger is going to result in higher fares and it's going to be bad for consumers.

A judge blocked the Spirit-JetBlue merger, said it's bad for consumers. And he said kind of famous last words. He said in his ruling, you know, Spirit is a small airline, but there are people who love it. And, you know, Spirit fans, this one's for you.

A judge blocked the Spirit-JetBlue merger, said it's bad for consumers. And he said kind of famous last words. He said in his ruling, you know, Spirit is a small airline, but there are people who love it. And, you know, Spirit fans, this one's for you.

A judge blocked the Spirit-JetBlue merger, said it's bad for consumers. And he said kind of famous last words. He said in his ruling, you know, Spirit is a small airline, but there are people who love it. And, you know, Spirit fans, this one's for you.

This ultra-low-cost carrier business model kind of just fell apart, like, really pretty rapidly. That's next.

This ultra-low-cost carrier business model kind of just fell apart, like, really pretty rapidly. That's next.

This ultra-low-cost carrier business model kind of just fell apart, like, really pretty rapidly. That's next.

You know, business travel wasn't fully back. So the bigger airlines were flying a lot more on the kind of Florida, Vegas, these domestic leisure routes that are sort of the bread and butter for the discount airlines. And that weighed on airfare.

You know, business travel wasn't fully back. So the bigger airlines were flying a lot more on the kind of Florida, Vegas, these domestic leisure routes that are sort of the bread and butter for the discount airlines. And that weighed on airfare.

You know, business travel wasn't fully back. So the bigger airlines were flying a lot more on the kind of Florida, Vegas, these domestic leisure routes that are sort of the bread and butter for the discount airlines. And that weighed on airfare.

The large legacy airlines over the years started kind of picking up at least parts of what Spirit was doing. So, I mean, for example, the bigger airlines started adopting their own kind of no-frills tickets called Basic Economy. And it's kind of their answer to Spirit, where you get only a ticket or, you know, it varies a little bit exactly what you get, but it's pretty bare-boned.

The large legacy airlines over the years started kind of picking up at least parts of what Spirit was doing. So, I mean, for example, the bigger airlines started adopting their own kind of no-frills tickets called Basic Economy. And it's kind of their answer to Spirit, where you get only a ticket or, you know, it varies a little bit exactly what you get, but it's pretty bare-boned.

The large legacy airlines over the years started kind of picking up at least parts of what Spirit was doing. So, I mean, for example, the bigger airlines started adopting their own kind of no-frills tickets called Basic Economy. And it's kind of their answer to Spirit, where you get only a ticket or, you know, it varies a little bit exactly what you get, but it's pretty bare-boned.

In United's case, you can't even bring a carry-on.

In United's case, you can't even bring a carry-on.

In United's case, you can't even bring a carry-on.

There's so much more competition. And it is not winning. Bigger airlines have gotten so much more effective going up against it. And it hasn't really had as much of a compelling offering as it once did.

There's so much more competition. And it is not winning. Bigger airlines have gotten so much more effective going up against it. And it hasn't really had as much of a compelling offering as it once did.

There's so much more competition. And it is not winning. Bigger airlines have gotten so much more effective going up against it. And it hasn't really had as much of a compelling offering as it once did.

I mean, they're called ultra low cost carriers. And the whole point is that they have the lowest costs and that allows them to charge the lowest fares. But now, you know, there are labor shortages coming out of the pandemic. All the airlines have to raise wages for everyone. So, you know, they don't really have as much of an advantage anymore on costs.