U.S low-cost carriers Sprit Airlines and JetBlue have announced that a planned merger has been terminated by mutual agreement.

The tie-up was blocked by a judge in late 2023 and while it might be possible to appeal the ruling, the length of time an appeal would take would be in neither airlines favour.

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“After discussing our options with our advisors and JetBlue, we concluded that current regulatory obstacles will not permit us to close this transaction in a timely fashion under the merger agreement,” said Ted Christie, Spirit’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are disappointed we cannot move forward with a deal that would save hundreds of millions for consumers and create a real challenger to the dominant “Big 4″ U.S. airlines. However, we remain confident in our future as a successful independent airline. We wish the JetBlue team well.”

“We believed this merger was worth pursuing because it would have unleashed a national low-fare, high-value competitor to the Big Four airlines,” said Joanna Geraghty, chief executive officer, JetBlue. “We are proud of the work we did with Spirit to lay out a vision to challenge the status quo, but given the hurdles to closing that remain, we decided together that both airlines’ interests are better served by moving forward independently. We wish the very best going forward to the entire Spirit team.”

Under the agreement, JetBlue will pay Spirit $69 million and the termination resolves all outstanding matters related to the transaction and under which any claims between them will be mutually released.

Ted Christie added; “Throughout the transaction process, given the regulatory uncertainty, we have always considered the possibility of continuing to operate as a standalone business and have been evaluating and implementing several initiatives that will enable us to bolster profitability and elevate the Guest experience. As we go forward, I am certain our fantastic Spirit team will continue delivering affordable fares and great experiences to our Guests.”