Spirit Airways’ board nonetheless helps Frontier Airways’ $2.9 billion takeover bid for the airline, saying JetBlue’s aggressive $3.6 billion supply is not a greater supply.

Final month Spirit stated that after chatting with monetary and authorized advisors, its administrators believed JetBlue’s providing might “fairly” be the higher of the 2 offers. However on Monday the corporate introduced that it has decided that JetBlue’s providing is “not fairly competent to run out.”

In a letter despatched to JetBlue, Spirit President Mac Gardner stated JetBlue’s bid had “an unacceptable stage of closure threat” that shareholders must take.

Spirit stated its board continues to assist the bid made by Frontier in February and sees it as the easiest way to maximise worth. The airline expects an settlement with Frontier closing within the second half of the yr.

Shares of Spirit Airways Inc fell 7.5% earlier than the market opened. Shares of Frontier Group Holdings Inc. declined barely, whereas shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. gained.