Duffy Blames Biden Administration for Spirit Airlines Collapse After Blocked JetBlue Merger

Summer approaches, but many Americans fear vacations are out of reach. Airfare costs have risen 18 percent compared to the same period in 2025.

Flights to beaches or Disney World now strain middle-class budgets, with the outlook grim. Spirit Airlines, a major budget carrier, canceled all flights and said on May 2 it is shutting down. The decision strands passengers and cuts low-cost choices.

Rep. Sean Duffy faults the Biden administration for killing a merger that could have saved the airline. Democrats cheered the block, he said, calling it economic malpractice.

In 2022, Spirit and JetBlue announced plans to merge into a new airline. The deal would pair JetBlue's scale with Spirit's low fares.

The merger promised a budget rival to the Big Four carriers — Delta, Southwest, American and United — to push down industry prices and benefit everyday travelers.

More competition typically means lower fares. But the Biden administration spent two years challenging JetBlue and Spirit. Officials blocked the deal, deeming the new company too large.

The federal government, with a $7 trillion budget, targeted a $3.8 billion agreement. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland and then-Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter shifted antitrust focus from consumer harm to other priorities.

Khan and Biden once had 40 percent of S&P 500 market cap companies under investigation. This approach doomed the merger. The administration persuaded a judge to rule against it.

Garland said the merger "would have caused tens of millions of travelers to face higher fares and fewer choices." Spirit's shutdown changes that view.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined in, saying he supported the Justice Department lawsuit and used his own authorities.

Democratic state attorneys general opposed the deal. Colorado's Phil Weiser called the court win a guidepost for states. Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Biden officials "were right to stand up for consumers and fight against runaway airline consolidation."

Duffy argued the merger fought consolidation by challenging the Big Four, boosted consumers through competition and lower fares, and would have preserved Spirit and 17,000 jobs.

Eight months after the block, Spirit filed for bankruptcy. It did so again less than a year later.

JetBlue now struggles. One estimate gives it over 75 percent odds of bankruptcy this year.

Cirium Analytics data shows Spirit's fares cut industry prices by 14 percent. Flying costs will rise further.

Duffy said Democrats handed consumers less competition, fewer choices, higher prices, job losses and more power to big carriers. He hopes the Trump administration reins in antitrust enforcement to target only mergers with clear consumer harm.