Joe Biden and Donald Trump crushed Spirit Airlines in rare bipartisan effort

A rare bipartisan narrative has revisited the collapse of Spirit Airlines, arguing that policy and market pressures compounded the airline’s already fragile financial position. The article notes that in 2014 Spirit expanded its fleet and routes and committed $100 million to stock buybacks, but it also had one of the lowest-rated customer service experiences. With thin profit margins, the carrier was hit hard by the global pandemic and then by subsequent economic shocks, including higher costs linked to inflation and oil-price spikes tied to the war in Iran. It also states that a proposed merger with JetBlue was blocked by the Biden administration’s antitrust crackdown, after which Spirit was left without its main lifeline. The piece further describes antitrust oversight under FTC chair Lina Khan, referencing a 2022 deal for Frontier to buy Spirit for $6.6 billion that ultimately did not proceed in the same way. It claims Spirit moved from being one of the more stable U.S. airlines to defunct within five years.