Strong bipartisan support in Florida — and strange bedfellows — for JetBlue-Spirit merger

Politics makes for strange bedfellows (as they say), and with the proposed merger between JetBlue and Miramar-based Spirit Airlines, that’s certainly the case.

Despite Florida’s intense political polarization, there is significant bipartisan support for this deal.

Florida elected officials and political leaders, ranging from Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody to her 2018 Democratic opponent, former state Rep. Sean Shaw, have endorsed the merger, a convergence of views so rare that Shaw noted it in a recent op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times.

This unexpected political alignment includes, among others, the Democratic Mayors of Orange County, Tallahassee and Broward County, and the Republican Mayor of Miami and Florida House Speaker-designate Daniel Perez, as well as a host of other state legislators from both parties.

What seems to unify this unusual bipartisan coalition is the belief that the combination of JetBlue and Spirit will be an economic boon to Florida’s economy, good for consumers, and good for the thousands of Florida-based JetBlue and Spirit workers, whose ranks will swell with JetBlue’s promise to bring at least 2,000 additional jobs to Florida if the merger goes through.

That promise was among the many benefits codified in an agreement between JetBlue and the State of Florida in March. Besides the new jobs, JetBlue committed to maintain all of JetBlue’s and Spirit’s existing Florida facilities, including Spirit’s new headquarters in Dania Beach, at their current or planned employment levels or greater for at least five years and to extend JetBlue’s no furloughs policy to Spirit employees, who will also see their compensation increased to match JetBlue pay scales.

Democratic and progressive political leaders, who are often ideologically opposed to mergers, explain their support by stressing the “pro-labor” aspects of the deal. That is because of the firm and unusual endorsement of the merger by three major unions representing JetBlue pilots and JetBlue and Spirit’s flight attendants.

The merger will also significantly increase Florida flights, with capacity increasing by at least 50% at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Orlando International Airport (MCO), and other Florida airports where JetBlue or Spirit operates.

According to JetBlue, this means hundreds of new daily flights to Florida, increased flights to some 35 current markets, and the addition of nearly 50 alternative routes not currently offered by either JetBlue or Spirit.

Supporters of the deal argue that increasing capacity is vital to maintaining Florida’s preeminent position as a destination for travelers and visitors from across the U.S. and worldwide.

According to VISIT FLORIDA, travel and tourism adds more than $100 billion annually to the Florida economy and directly or indirectly accounts for 13% of the state’s jobs, employing 1.7 million Floridians. Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale regularly top lists of the most popular U.S. travel destinations, and the Sunshine State is on track for a record number of visitors in 2023.

Opponents of the merger — including the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Transportation (DOT) — counter that allowing the two airlines to combine would hurt consumers.

Supporters note that competition will be enhanced and consumers will benefit from a more robust low-fare carrier that can better compete with the Big Four airlines, which currently control 80% of the domestic U.S. market. They point to the infamous “JetBlue effect,” whereby the entry of JetBlue into a market forces larger carriers to reduce their fares in response, which a study has shown to result in an average fare reduction of 16%.

The Biden administration has moved to block the combination of the merger in federal court on antitrust grounds, and we expect a court decision in the coming weeks.

Several Florida political officials and business leaders have publicly called on U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to respect the case’s’ outcome and allow the merger to proceed quickly if the ruling favors the airlines.

It is unclear if the Secretary will change course despite the bipartisan support, including from all corners of his political party.