JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) has announced the record and payment dates for additional prepayments to Spirit Airlines stockholders following Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes' re-commitment last week to fight what he called the US Department of Justice's (DOJ's) "unprecedented" lawsuit to stop their planned USD3.8 billion merger.

In a statement on March 17, JetBlue announced it had set March 27 as the record date for the March 2023 prepayment to Spirit Airlines stockholders of USD0.10 per Spirit share, with payment of the March additional prepayment to follow on March 31 in line with the merger agreement.

Speaking at the JP Morgan Industrials conference on March 14, Hayes acknowledged that the DOJ's lawsuit filed on March 7 at the US District Court in Massachusetts was unexpected. "It is unprecedented. It's not something we've seen before."

Quizzed on his opinion, and on the Department of Transport (DOT) weighing in on it, he said the company was focused on winning the case. "At the end of the day, the DOJ has one view; we have a different view. You know, a judge will now get to decide. We think that this deal is tremendously pro-consumer. If you look into the DOT's own docket, there are thousands of letters and submissions of support, [and] very few against. There are a lot of other people supporting who haven't necessarily commented yet. So I personally think that if we go to trial we [will] win the case."

Asked what the implications would be if operating on a single air operator's certificate (AOC) is delayed for some time, Hayes was non-committal, saying it would be in the interest of the airlines, labour, and communities if the case was settled quickly. "Our number one priority right now is to prepare for trial, litigate our arguments, and win the case," he said.

On the DOJ's legal battle to stop the so-called Northeast Alliance (NEA) commercial partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines announced in July 2020, he said JetBlue was awaiting to hear the outcome of the case tried in the US District Court in Boston in September 2022. "It doesn't really change anything in that we are operating the NEA today. [...] It took the best part of a year to actually implement, but then we'll be entering year four. So again, I think the benefits are there for everyone to see. JetBlue has never been bigger in New York. We've grown Boston because of the NEA, and we would like to be able to continue to do that."

Hayes' views on the NEA were echoed by American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, who expressed confidence in the alliance and said there was no Plan B. "The NEA is producing value [so] I can't envision it being ruled against," he said. "Everything that we have done has produced consumer benefit, and all the concerns have never come [about]. We have been operating this now for a couple of years. So I'm not looking at a Plan B."

Asked for his take on the JetBlue-Spirit merger, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby admitted that blocking it did not seem "fair or right to me". "To say an airline can't combine to be the fifth largest in the world when scale matters - if I was Robin I'd be spitting angry. That just doesn't seem fair." He also said he had no issue with the NEA. "We don't have a dog in the hunt on either of those, but really, I like our competitive position. We're winning market share. I like our competitive position either way."