Rachel Abrams

Tell us sort of what happens from there.

Okay, so at this point, Neeraj, it sounds like Spirit is really getting squeezed in a whole bunch of different ways.

What do they do to try to get back on track?

They're basically arguing that if these two airlines merge, it would be bad for consumers.

It's basically an antitrust argument.

And what was Spirit's counterargument to that?

Basically, they're saying if we can pool our resources together, we're going to be able to compete better with the big guys.

And ergo, we're going to be able to give customers lower fares.

Okay, so merger doesn't happen.

Where does Spirit go from here?

Right.

That would be a challenge for any airline to suddenly have to shoulder these rising fuel costs, but especially a challenge for an airline that has just gone through two bankruptcies and is really trying to keep its costs low to stay competitive.

And on top of that, presumably the optics of this do not look great, right?

Having an airline, specifically an airline that caters to working class people, go under because of a war started under the Trump administration.

Senator Rauch, we mentioned earlier in our conversation that there's been this outpouring of grief from people who travel, who took spirit, who are so sad that it has gone away.

Can you just describe for us what did that grief look like?

What did it sound like since Spirit announced that it was going under on Saturday?

What is your diagnosis ultimately, Neeraj, about what Spirit's downfall was?

Like, how much should we attribute to the rising costs associated with the war in Iran or other headwinds faced by budget airlines or the airline industry as a whole?

Hindsight is obviously 2020, but how should we be thinking about the merger that the DOJ blocked in 2024?