JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) today shared a letter with its Crewmembers in advance of the Spirit (NYSE: SAVE) special meeting on June 30:
Dear Crewmembers,
It’s been an active few months on our proposed acquisition of Spirit. Thanks for all your support, questions, and interest along the way. I’ve also received many messages from Spirit Team Members who are excited and rooting for us. I believe we could all work together to create a game-changing national competitor to the legacy airlines if we’re able to move forward.
The Spirit special shareholder meeting is set for tomorrow, and many of you are wondering if we will reach a conclusion to all of this. If Spirit shareholders vote down the Frontier proposal, the Spirit board will need to reconsider the very clear benefits of our offer.
For travelers, there’s so much at stake. Which airline do people really want to be the nation’s fifth largest, and which would be most effective at disrupting the Big Four? The clear answer is JetBlue. Customers would win with a bigger JetBlue – the unique combination of our beloved brand, award-winning service, and everyday low fares force the high-fare legacies to compete. A Frontier-Spirit tie-up is a missed opportunity for increased competition and denies Customers an attractive alternative to bare-bones travel.
In addition, folding Spirit into JetBlue would turbocharge our expansion. We would get more aircraft, more gates and airport space, more flights, and more Crewmembers – making our brand and products more relevant to more Customers across the country. This growth would be great for JetBlue Crewmembers too as a bigger JetBlue offers more career opportunities.
From the beginning, the Spirit board has not run a fair process and they’ve said many things about us that are blatantly false. They have deep ties to Frontier’s owner, and they have always believed a Frontier-Spirit merger was inevitable. Some Spirit shareholders have indicated to us that they have doubts about the Spirit board too, and this gives us confidence that they will vote down the Frontier merger. Whatever the outcome tomorrow, I’m proud that our team went after this opportunity and put forward our best effort.
Our founders started JetBlue in 2000 with a mission to bring humanity back to air travel. No one thought an upstart, low-cost airline with a bold mission and live TV onboard would ever work. But it did. JetBlue proved the skeptics wrong, and ever since, we’ve made a measurable impact as a competitive force for good. With or without Spirit, our future is bright and at the core of our business we have a strong organic plan that will help us win in this changing world. We will deliver continued, profitable growth as we emerge from the pandemic, backed by a strong Airbus order book, a customer experience that no airline can match, a challenging but highly valuable geography, and – most importantly – 23,000 of the industry’s best Crewmembers.
Thanks again for all you’re doing this summer to support our airline and each other.
Robin Hayes
Chief Executive Officer
About JetBlue
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline®️, and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles, Orlando, and San Juan. JetBlue carries customers to more than 100 cities throughout the United States, Latin America, Caribbean, Canada, and United Kingdom. For more information and the best fares, visit jetblue.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release contain various forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. These statements are intended to qualify for the “safe harbor” from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “indicates,” “believes,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “targets” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including, without limitation, those listed in our U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, matters of which we may not be aware, the coronavirus pandemic including new and existing variants, the outbreak of any other disease or similar public health threat that affects travel demand or behavior, the outcome of any discussions between JetBlue Airways Corporation (“JetBlue”) and Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”) with respect to a possible transaction, including the possibility that the parties will not agree to pursue a business combination transaction or that the terms of any such transaction will be materially different from those described herein, the conditions to the completion of the possible transaction, including the receipt of any required stockholder and regulatory approvals and, in particular, our expectation as to the likelihood of receipt of antitrust approvals, JetBlue’s ability to finance the possible transaction and the indebtedness JetBlue expects to incur in connection with the possible transaction, the possibility that JetBlue may be unable to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies within the expected timeframes or at all and to successfully integrate Spirit’s operations with those of JetBlue, and the possibility that such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected or that operating costs and business disruption (including, without limitation, disruptions in relationships with employees, customers or suppliers) may be greater than expected in connection with the possible transaction. Given the risks and uncertainties surrounding forward-looking statements, you should not place undue reliance on these statements. Further information concerning these and other factors is contained in JetBlue’s SEC filings, including but not limited to, JetBlue’s 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release might not occur. Our forward-looking statements included in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were written or recorded. We undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Additional Important Information and Where to Find It
This press release is provided for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any shares of the common stock of Spirit or any other securities. JetBlue and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sundown Acquisition Corp., have commenced a tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Spirit and have filed with the SEC a tender offer statement on Schedule TO (including an Offer to Purchase, a Letter of Transmittal and related documents), as may be amended. These documents contain important information, including the terms and conditions of the tender offer, and stockholders of Spirit are advised to carefully read these documents before making any decision with respect to the tender offer.
Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of these statements and other documents filed with respect to the tender offer at the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov. In addition, copies of the tender offer statement and related materials may be obtained for free by directing such requests to the information agent for the tender offer, Innisfree M&A Incorporated, at (877) 800-5190 (toll free for stockholders) or (212) 750-5833 (collect for banks and brokers).
JetBlue has filed a definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A with the SEC (“Definitive Proxy Statement”) and the accompanying BLUE proxy card on May 26, 2022, to be used to solicit proxies in opposition to the proposed business combination between Spirit and Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. (“Frontier”) and the other proposals to be voted on by Spirit stockholders at the special meeting of the stockholders of Spirit to be held on June 30, 2022. This press release is not a substitute for the Definitive Proxy Statement or any other document JetBlue, Spirit or Frontier may file with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction.
STOCKHOLDERS OF SPIRIT ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING ALL PROXY MATERIALS, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the Definitive Proxy Statement and other documents filed by JetBlue at the SEC’s web site at https://www.sec.gov or by contacting the information agent for the proxy solicitation, Innisfree M&A Incorporated, at (877) 800-5190 (toll free for stockholders) or (212) 750-5833 (collect for banks and brokers).
Participants in the Solicitation
JetBlue and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Spirit common stock. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation is contained in the Definitive Proxy Statement.
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