JetBlue Airways’ proposed takeover of Spirit Airlines blocked by federal judge 

A US federal judge has blocked JetBlue Airways from acquiring budget carrier Spirit Airlines, concluding that the merger – first announced in July 2022 – would substantially damage competition. Following four weeks of testimony and three weeks of consideration, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts found the proposed $3.8bn acquisition of Spirit to be unlawful as it “does violence to the core principle of antitrust law: to protect the United States’ markets – and its market participants – from anticompetitive harm”. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Doha Mekki of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division believes the ruling