Originally Posted by The701Express

I've been thinking about this a bit. The reaction by spirit management and the board doesn't seem like a standard corporate response to an unwanted or less than superior offer. VX was a better fit with jetblue from almost every perspective, network, equipment, corporate culture, etc, but they didn't respond to Alaska's offer this way.

What could possibly explain this? A few events in the recent past stick out in my mind.

Spirit passed a poison pill amendment back in March of 2020, when all airline stocks were getting hammered, but they were the only airline to pass one as far as I know.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/spir...off-2020-03-30

Here's Ted Christie on it at the time:

"We are adopting the rights agreement to protect against parties seeking to take advantage of the current market environment to the detriment of Spirit and its shareholders," Christie said.

It was weird at the time, but as I recall it was generally shrugged off as a sign of the the craziness of the times. But why were no other similarly sized, publicly traded airlines acting similarly about the threat of a buyout?

If Robin's letter is factual, then it appears jetblue has been interested in acquiring spirit for some time now, perhaps even predating the pandemic, when Spirit's higher market cap was protecting the airline from a hostile takeover. A 75% drop in the stock price made a hostile takeover much easier.

2020 was an important year for jetblue. That was supposed to be the year jetblue's cost saving programs and new revenue initiatives were all going full bore in pursuit of $2.50-3.00 EPS. I wondered at the time why the hyperfocus on that EPS target. Beyond boosting share price, there wasn't a publicly stated goal for all of that effort. Looking back now, I think buying Spirit was that goal. Jetblue had already acknowledged the need for a merger to reach a point of scale to effectively compete when it attempted to buy VX, this was the next attempt. Spirit must have known, which explains the poison pill when the share price tanked.

Oh yeah, Ben Baldanza also joined the jetblue BOD in August of 2018.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...f%20Directors.

Frontier IPO'd on March 31st of 2021 and made a net profit of $260 million.

https://www.pymnts.com/news/ipo/2021/frontier-airlines-raises-570-million-ipo-at-4-billion-valuation/

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Spirit had 108 million shares outstanding on 2/4/2022. Frontier offered $2.13 cash per share, for a total value of a $230 million cash payment to shareholders.
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In my best Columbo voice: Just one more thing, when did that spirit poison pill expire?

Spirit's poison pill amendment was good for 364 days, ending just days before the Frontier IPO.

https://www.clermontpartners.com/blo...l-in-covid-19/
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There's ample evidence that JetBlue was interested in buying Spirit for some time and made serious decisions to make it happen. Spirit's and Indigo's behavior when put into context appears conspicuously related, whether intentionally or not. It's reasonable to state that the current spirit BOD and executive team has a better shot at continued employment with a F9 merger vs jetblue. In the case of the BOD, it's explicit, with 5 board seats on the line with the F9 deal. To have those prospects potentially snatched away from you at the last moment would feel pretty frustrating were I in that position.

This won't win any court case, but it bears consideration within the discussion happening here.
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​​​I'll save the spirit crew some time and suggest posting Charlie in front of the corkboard covered in string in response. I'll be owned so badly by that. But in return, I ask you to heed the advice of me and others on here, and don't underestimate the jetblue executives. They're formidable when it comes to operating in the legal and political world, focusing on that to the point of making the actual operation a lower priority leading to many of the issues occurring today. They're not running an airline, they're building a brand, it's a whole different ballgame than what you're used to.

Originally Posted by The701Express

I've been thinking about this a bit. The reaction by spirit management and the board doesn't seem like a standard corporate response to an unwanted or less than superior offer. VX was a better fit with jetblue from almost every perspective, network, equipment, corporate culture, etc, but they didn't respond to Alaska's offer this way.

What could possibly explain this? A few events in the recent past stick out in my mind.

Originally Posted by Trylabyte

So I feel like the mood at nk is b6 is going to make another move for a buyout or go straight to shareholders. Still have yet to run into another pilot who wants anything to do with frontier. Certainly not me either. Place looks like more of a trasheap than here. What's the rumor mill at b6. Clearly you guys also have a mole

Originally Posted by 3rdGen

I want nothing todo with JetBlue…

Originally Posted by ropestart

normally I would agree, but working under Frankie again is the kiss of death.

Originally Posted by ropestart

I still believe B6 will pursue NK. This isn’t over by a long shoot.

Originally Posted by ropestart

normally I would agree, but working under Frankie again is the kiss of death.

Originally Posted by pilotpayne

I know one thing JetBlue has been very quiet after the second “rejection”