Even as the U.S. Justice Department continues to pursue its own a case against JetBlue’s $3.8 billion deal to acquire budget carrier Spirit Airlines, a consumer lawsuit has also been lodged against the merger plan.
This week, in a federal court filing made in Massachusetts, both airlines’ defense attorneys argued that the case should be thrown out entirely, calling it “vague" and "speculative."
They requested U.S. District Judge William Young rule that the 25 plaintiffs, who lodged a court complaint last year hoping to block the JetBlue-Spirit merger, don’t have sufficient legal standing to remain in court.
The defense team said the plaintiffs' "generalized" claim that the takeover will harm them as air travelers isn’t sufficient to support this kind of legal challenge against a specific merger agreement.
"Although plaintiffs claim they may 'some day' fly Spirit, wishful thinking does not establish the threshold to maintain a lawsuit," the attorneys said.
The two airlines’ attorneys also denounced the combined plaintiffs’ legal team, pointing out that they have been battling to block airline mergers for years, and, "not once have they prevailed, but they have accepted monetary settlements.”
In light of the pattern and the insufficient cause for filing a complaint against the JetBlue-Spirit deal specifically, the defense lawyers said the plaintiffs’ case "is fundamentally about money".
The majority of the plaintiffs involved in this consumer lawsuit are either presently employed or previously worked in the travel industry, and they allege that the "elimination of Spirit will further substantially threaten to harm U.S. passengers".
The airlines’ lawyers argued that the legal expert relied upon by the plaintiffs "offers zero evidence" of potential harm posed to travel agents. The defense team opines that, "harm from mergers generally is not the same as alleging specific harm from this proposed transaction."
San Francisco attorney Joseph Alioto, who is part of the plaintiffs’ legal team, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, nor did representatives for JetBlue and Spirit Airlines.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s own lawsuit, which likewise seeks to block JetBlue-Spirit merger that would result in the formation of the country’s fifth-largest airline, is still pending before Judge Young in Boston federal court. A bench trial in the case is scheduled to commence on October 16, 2023.
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