JetBlue has made a rival $3.6 billion bid for US ultra-budget carrier Spirit Airlines.
The offer compares with a $2.9 billion merger offer for ultra low-cost Spirit announced by Frontier in February.
JetBlue chief executive Robin Hayes said the acquisition would be a “game changer” in terms of the carrier’s ability to compete on a national scale across the US.
A combination with Spirit would give New York-based JetBlue a fleet of 455 aircraft with 312 Airbus aircraft on order.
A raft of new US cities would be added to its network plus four destinations in Colombia.
The combined network would serve more than 77 million customers a year on more than 1,700 daily flights to over 130 destinations in 27 countries from Peru to the UK.
The combination of JetBlue and Spirit would create the fifth largest US domestic airline, better positioning it on a national level as a low-fare alternative to the dominant ‘Big Four’ carriers.
Hayes said: “While JetBlue and Spirit are different in many ways, we also have much in common, including a focus on keeping our costs low so we can profitably expand and offer an attractive alternative to the dominant ‘Big Four’ airlines.
“We would conduct a full review of Spirit’s product offering, operational and customer technology and talent pool to optimise the combined airline.”
Spirit acknowledged the “unsolicited proposal” and said it “will work with its financial and legal advisors to evaluate JetBlue’s proposal and pursue the course of action it determines to be in the best interests of Spirit and its stockholders.”
Frontier insisted that its offer was “in the best interest of consumers and shareholders.”