Shortly after Spirit Airlines’ weekend announcement that it was shutting down and ceasing operations immediately, critics pinpointed a move by Sen. Liz Warren (D-MA) back in 2022 as the beginning of the demise for the longtime budget airline.
According to multiple reports, Warren persuaded the then-Biden administration back in 2022 to stop a planned merger that might have saved the ultra-low-cost carrier.
The 34-year-old airline, which had a workforce of more than 17,000 employees and primarily served lower-income customers, ceased operations after a proposed half-billion-dollar bailout from the government fell through over the weekend.
However, months before the airline first filed for bankruptcy in 2024, fellow low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways called off its intended $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit following years of opposition by then-President Joe Biden, Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Warren, who was the planned merger’s biggest opponent in Congress.
When the proposed merger was first announced in July 2022 forcefully opposed and lobbied the Biden administration to stop it.
In a June 2023 letter penned by Warren to then-Secretary Buttigieg, she wrote, “We urge DOT not to be pressured by misleading comments generated through JetBlue’s Astroturf campaign, and to continue its careful scrutiny of the JetBlue-Spirit deal.”
In March 2024, Warren doubled down on her opposition to the merger in a scathing post on X, saying it would lead to higher costs for consumers.
“I’ve warned for months that a [JetBlue]-[Spirit Airlines] merger would have led to fewer flights and higher fares,” Warren wrote in the post, sent the day after the acquisition attempt was called off.
“This is a Biden win for flyers!” Warren emphasized in the post.
I've warned for months that a @JetBlue–@SpiritAirlines merger would have led to fewer flights and higher fares.@JusticeATR and @USDOT were right to stand up for consumers and fight against runaway airline consolidation.
This is a Biden win for flyers! https://t.co/lJFGS3ucv3
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 6, 2024
Also on the morning of Spirit’s surprise shutdown, economist and investor Peter Schiff replied to Warren’s X post, lamenting that the “Big Four airlines (American, Delta, Southwest, United) control 75% of the U.S. market,” adding “Fewer choices = higher prices for you.”
“So why did you block the JetBlue, Spirit Airlines merger?” Schiff asked.
“The combined company would have been better competition than JetBlue alone. Now that Spirit is gone thanks to your intervention.”
So why did you block the Jet Blue, Spirit Airlines merger? The combined company would have been better competition than Jet Blue alone. now that Spirit is gone thanks to your intervention.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) May 2, 2026
Warren has continued to justify the shutdown of the airline, now positioning that the airline is out of business because of the work of the Trump administration.
Warren wrote on X that skyrocketing oil prices due to the Trump administration’s war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz were “the nail in the coffin for twice-bankrupted” airline.
“FWIW [For what it’s worth], JetBlue merger failed because a judge, appointed by Ronald Reagan, said the deal was illegal. Republicans are desperate to shift blame from higher costs hitting families,” the senator wrote, referring to U.S. District Judge William G. Young’s January 2024 ruling.
Spiking fuel prices from Trump’s war was the nail in the coffin for twice-bankrupted Spirit airline.
FWIW, JetBlue merger failed because a judge, appointed by Ronald Reagan, said the deal was illegal.
Republicans are desperate to shift blame from higher costs hitting families.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 2, 2026
Warren’s office has responded to questions surrounding the airline shutdown by referring readers to her previous X posts.