Research from IPX, a Fidelity National Financial Company, found that travel is a top priority for Americans, with more than half of Americans hoping to travel more in 2025 than they did in the past.
Unfortunately, financial issues are an obstacle for many. A survey from Consumer Insights survey from Statista in 2025 also revealed that 29% of Americans said they could not go on vacation this year because of a lack of funds.
Statista included 20 countries in the survey, and Americans had the highest proportion of respondents who said that money was an obstacle to travel.
Unfortunately, those Americans could soon have fewer choices when it comes to their travel options, as the founder of JetBlue Airlines has recently issued a blunt warning about the future of discount flights.
An airline founderpredicted that two low-cost airline carriers would need to merge in order to survive.
David McQ/Shutterstock
JetBlue Airlines founder warns about the future of cheap air travel
Dave Neeleman, who founded both Breeze and JetBlue, recently spoke out about the future of cheap air travel at the Skift aviation forum.
Neeleman predicted that two low-cost airline carriers would need to merge in order to survive. Those two low-cost carriers are Frontier and Spirit. According to View from the Wing, Neeleman said, “I think Spirit and Frontier need each other…[Frontier CEO] Barry Biffle may not say that, but they do.”
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There’s an important reason why Neeleman said these two carriers would need to come together in order for either to be successful in the long run. And this is where the blunt warning comes in.
“There’s room for a ULCC in the U.S. but probably not two,” according to the JetBlue and Breeze founder.
A ULCC is an ultra-low-cost carrier, or a no-frills airline that offers cheap flights and few perks. Both Spirit Airlines and Frontier fit this description, and Neeleman does not think they can be successful without joining forces.
Ultra-low-cost-airlines can’t survive with current strategies
Spirit Airlines is undoubtedly struggling, having recently entered into its second bankruptcy.
Frontier Airlines is not in bankruptcy, but it is also not profitable at the moment. When Frontier released its third-quarter earnings in November, the airline reported a $77 million net loss.
Neeleman believes ultra-low-cost airlines in Europe are more successful than those in the U.S. because they have a different core strategy, including flying into secondary airports instead of competing with major carriers.
This doesn’t work as well in the U.S., especially as some of the bigger airlines in this country have managed to capture low-budget travelers with basic economy fares.
What does this warning mean for U.S. flyers?
Unfortunately, Neeleman’s warning is not good news for U.S. consumers.
“As David Neeleman — the founder and former CEO of JetBlue — said, ‘There’s room for a ULCC in the U.S., but probably not two.’ And he’s right,” says Dominick Miserandino, CEO of RTMNexus, in a statement to TheStreet.
“While our economy thrives when people have access to affordable travel, the brutal reality is that the ultra-low-cost model only works at scale. Neeleman’s the expert here, and if he says the market can really only sustain one dominant ULCC, it’s worth paying attention.”
The problem for flyers is that Frontier already tried to purchase Spirit, but JetBlue outbid it, and the Department of Justice ultimately blocked JetBlue’s sale on antitrust grounds.
The DOJ stated that the buyout would have violated “the core principle of antitrust law: to protect the United States’ markets – and its market participants – from anticompetitive harm.”
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There’s no guarantee the DOJ will allow a deal between Frontier and Spirit to proceed, since it already blocked a previous merger between Spirit and a discount airline.
Further, there were obviously concerns about the market impact of such a deal, and those concerns remain valid, even if it is Frontier, and not JetBlue, with which Spirit merges.
If there is less competition in the ultra-low-cost airline market, this gives the airlines less incentive to keep prices as affordable as possible and opens up the door for them to cut more services.
This could mean consumers have fewer options for affordable air travel at a time when many are already struggling to take desired trips.
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