JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU said late Wednesday it will unwind a joint venture with American Airlines Group Inc. AAL in airports in the Boston and the New York City areas to “focus” on its merger with Spirit Airlines Inc. SAVE. JetBlue said it won’t appeal a May court ruling siding with the Justice Department regarding the JV with American, called Northeast Alliance, and the unwinding process “will take place over the coming months,” the airline said. “We will now turn even more focus to our proposed combination with Spirit, which is the best and most effective opportunity to truly transform the competitive landscape in the U.S. and bring the JetBlue Effect to more routes and markets across the country.” The airline called for the DOJ to “reconsider and support” the merger with ultra-low cost Spirit. JetBlue is “open to working with the DOJ to address any remaining concerns they have,” it said. The DOJ sued in March to block the JetBlue and Spirit merger, saying the plan would eliminate competition and stick travelers with higher air fares. The two airlines last year agreed to combine in a $3.8 billion deal with the aim of creating the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. that came about after JetBlue battled it out for Spirit with Frontier Airlines’ Frontier Group Holdings Inc. ULCC. Shares of Spirit rallied nearly 3% in the afterhours session after the news, while JetBlue and American shares were down 1.7% and 0.2% respectively.
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