MW JetBlue's stock turns positive for the year on merger talk

By Claudia Assis

JetBlue reportedly hiring advisers to explore a potential deal

A JetBlue jet at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The airline is reportedly exploring options to merge.

Shares of JetBlue Airways rallied by as much as 15% on Wednesday after a report said that it has hired advisers to explore selling itself to a competitor.

Wednesday's rally turned JetBlue shares positive for the year.

The specific scenario to explore would be how the Trump administration would view a deal with Alaska Airlines $(AAL)$, Southwest Airlines $(LUV)$ or United Airlines $(UAL)$, Semafor said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Jetblue $(JBLU)$ did not immediately return a request for comment. JetBlue already has a partnership with United, allowing people to book combined itineraries, among other perks.

JetBlue attempted to merge with Spirit Airlines $(FLYYQ)$ in 2024, but bowed out after regulatory pushback that a merger between low-cost JetBlue and ultralow-cost Spirit would hurt competition. A proposed merger between Spirit and Frontier $(ULCC)$ also fizzled.

Jetblue has struggled to catch up to U.S. majors United as well as Delta Air Lines $(DAL)$ and American Airlines (AAL), which have placed winning bets on perks to attract and retain customers, and sometimes in direct competition for lower fares from the ultralow-cost carriers.

Until Tuesday's close, JetBlue's stock was down nearly 8% so far this year. Wednesday's rally pushed the stock to a gain of about 5% on the year. The U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS is down 10% this year, whereas the S&P 500 index SPX has lost about 4%.

Budget air carriers Allegiant $(ALGT)$ and Sun Country Airlines (SNCY) announced merger plans in January.

-Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 25, 2026 16:23 ET (20:23 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.