The FAA will tentatively approve JetBlue Airways’ $58.5 million acquisition of 22 former Spirit Airlines slots at New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), subject to restrictions intended to preserve competition.
In a Federal Register notice placed on public inspection, the FAA said it had tentatively decided that allowing the slot sale, subject to certain conditions, would be in the public interest. The notice is scheduled for official publication on Aug. 31.
However, the decision is not yet final. The FAA will accept comments for 20 days after publication before determining whether to grant the exemption.
“Approving the sale of Spirit’s 22 slots to JetBlue ensures that scarce public airspace resources are returned to active commercial service under a proven low-fare business model,” the FAA said. “[The] FAA tentatively finds that the proposed transaction offers important benefits to the public.”
Under the proposed conditions, JetBlue will be prohibited from trading or leasing the slots to another airline until after April 2028. Although it could lease or trade them after that date, JetBlue would be permanently prevented from selling them outright.
The slots would also remain subject to the FAA’s authority, including its ability to withdraw them for nonuse or when it determines that doing so is in the public interest.
JetBlue and Spirit jointly requested approval on July 23 after JetBlue won a court-supervised auction. The package consists of 12 daily departure slots and 10 arrival slots.
JetBlue’s $58.5 million offer narrowly exceeded a $57.5 million bid from Frontier Airlines, which was designated as the alternate bidder. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New York's Southern District approved the transaction, subject to regulatory authorization, following a July 22 hearing.
Spirit ceased passenger operations May 2 after talks over a $500 million rescue package collapsed, leaving the 22 LaGuardia slots unused. The FAA previously granted relief from the airport’s 80% minimum-use requirement to prevent the authorizations from being withdrawn while a sale was explored.
The agency has extended the existing minimum-use relief through Oct. 31 while it considers the transfer. If final approval is granted, the FAA would waive the use-or-lose requirements through April 2027, giving JetBlue time to integrate the slots into its network, allocate aircraft and crews and open ticket sales for the new flights.
JetBlue has said the acquisition could support up to 12 additional daily roundtrips from LaGuardia during 2027, although it has not disclosed potential destinations.
The transaction would increase JetBlue’s slot portfolio at LGA by approximately 71%, from 31 to 53 operating authorizations. Its share of the airport’s 1,141 carrier-held slots would rise from about 2.7% to 4.6%. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines together control 838 operating authorizations, representing 73.4% of the airport’s slots.
The FAA said JetBlue would remain below the 5% threshold previously used to identify airlines with a limited presence at slot-controlled airports. It tentatively concluded that allowing the airline to build a larger operating base would strengthen its ability to compete against LGA’s dominant incumbents.
OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that JetBlue is offering about 408,200 departure seats from LGA during summer 2026, accounting for 3.4% of the airport’s capacity and remaining broadly flat from a year earlier. Delta is the airport’s largest airline with almost 5.4 million departure seats and a 44.6% share, followed by American with nearly 3.3 million seats and 27.2%. Southwest Airlines holds 9.1% and United Airlines 8.5%.
JetBlue’s current LaGuardia network is concentrated on leisure routes to Florida, led by Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. Its Fort Lauderdale capacity has increased 47.4% year over year to 189,900 departure seats.
Spirit had been LaGuardia’s fifth-largest airline in summer 2025, offering around 586,800 departure seats and holding a 4.8% share. Its network included Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, Orlando, Charlotte, Houston, Myrtle Beach and Miami.
The slot acquisition forms part of JetBlue’s broader effort to capitalize on Spirit’s exit and return to sustained operating profitability in 2027. The airline is also expanding at Spirit’s former Fort Lauderdale base, where it expects to operate more than 150 daily flights during the winter season.
The FAA plans to issue a final decision on the LGA slots after reviewing comments.
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