Former top Biden official all but admits admin killed Spirit Airlines by rejecting JetBlue merger

That’s the spirit.A top Biden official has all but admitted that the Democratic administration’s Justice Department sealed Spirit Airlines’ fate when it rejected a merger request — and suggested it was the wrong choice after the ultralow-cost airline shut down Saturday morning.Neera Tanden, who previously served as a senior advisor to former President Joe Biden, wondered whether a merger could have prevented the mass job losses.Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), meanwhile, tried to blame Spirit’s failure on President Trump — only to be called out for helping to kill the tieup with JetBlue.“Given the news today that Spirit Airlines is shuttering and thousands of people are losing their jobs, I think we should honestly assess whether the Garland DoJ stopping the JetBlue merger with Spirit Airlines was the right call,” Tanden wrote in a viral post on X.“Perhaps it was, but any analysis must consider as part of the equation the loss to so many families to decide.”Spirit Airlines, which employed some 17,000 people, formally shuttered its operations on Saturday after bailout negotiations broke down.In addition to eyeing a merger with JetBlue, it had also once been in talks with Frontier Airlines amid its financial woes, which were seemingly exacerbated by the war in Iran that caused a surge in jet fuel prices.The Biden administration’s Justice Department, under then Attorney General Merrick Garland, had fought against New York-based JetBlue’s bid to purchase Spirit Airlines for some $3.8 billion.“The Justice Department proved in court that a merger between JetBlue and Spirit would have caused tens of millions of travelers to face higher fares and fewer choices,” Garland said after a court sided with the DOJ against the merger.

“We will continue to vigorously enforce the nation’s antitrust laws.”Tanden, a staunch progressive, made clear that she still pins more of the blame on President Trump, who mulled a $500 million bailout deal.“Lord, ...