Washington Examiner economics columnist Tiana Lowe Doescher said there isn’t a “good way” to save Spirit Airlines from being forced out of business without government intervention.
Spirit is nearing a $500 million bailout deal with the Trump administration to save the struggling airline company after it filed for bankruptcy twice.
“As of right now there’s no good way to save Spirit, especially not without the government,” Doescher said Thursday on Newsmax’s National Report.
Doescher said the “over-regulated” airline industry and previous administrations’ blocking of Spirit mergers have contributed to the company’s financial deterioration.
During the Biden administration, a $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue and Spirit was blocked when the Justice Department sued to stop the deal in 2023.
The deal ultimately ended in March 2024, when JetBlue announced that it would abandon its acquisition of Spirit after a federal judge blocked the deal, saying reduced competition would lead to increased prices.
“You have a really regulated industry, an overregulated industry, and then the government having blocked these procedures, these mergers, that could have allowed Spirit to stay afloat,” she said.
Doescher said the “better solution” would be deregulation in the airline industry.
“The much better solution here is instead of spending $500 million on bailing out Spirit, would be deregulating the domestic airline industry and allowing foreign carriers to operate in the country,” Doescher said.
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She added that any international airline operating in the U.S. would be helpful, whether budget or higher-tier.
“The problem is any time the government tries to get in the business of picking winners and losers, they usually end up rehabilitating these zombie companies,” Doescher said.