Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has signaled an apparent openness to the idea of one of the US’s big four airlines initiating a merger with a smaller carrier.
On April 7, 2026, Secretary Duffy was asked during an interview with CNBC whether he would like to see one of the larger airlines buy one of their smaller competitors.
In response Secretary Duffy said: “That’s going to come through us but also President Trump, he loves to see big deals happen. He would have to review that kind of a deal. It has to go through DOJ and it will come to DOT. Who knows who’s going to match up. There’s always chatter but is there room for some mergers in the aviation industry, yeah, I think there is.”
When pressed further about a possible US merger, Secretary Duffy said: “Again, there’s a lot of chatter. Alot of people are talking among themselves about what that should look like. I’m going to wait and see.”
Duffy indicated that if a merger arrived on the table, there would be many questions that needed to be answered around competition and the impact on consumers.
He added that if a merger between the larger airlines formed, then “they’re going to have to peel off some of their assets”, but a decision would be made on a “case-by-case basis”.
“We don’t want to have this massive infrastructure with one airline in America, again I do think that will affect pricing in the long run because they’ll be a lack of competition,” said Duffy.
He added: “I am not going to pre-commit to anything. I’ll look at anything that comes across my desk and I know the president will look at that as well.”
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines have often been speculated as two of the most likely candidates to be purchased by a larger airline.
In March 2024, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines announced they will no longer pursue a merger that they hoped would challenge United, American, Delta and Southwest.
The recent war in Iran and subsequent impact on prices have highlighted the vulnerability of smaller carriers globally with some talk that the current operational climate could lead to mergers.
