Spirit is Not Buying Air Jamaica

The rumor mill has been swirling the last couple of days with the news that Air Jamaica is being bought by Spirit. Too bad that’s not true.

While it has yet to be confirmed, it appears that the OWNERS of Spirit, Indigo Partners and Oaktree Capital, are trying to buy Air Jamaica. Indigo also has stakes in Wizz Air, Tiger Airways, and it’s now been rumored that they are looking at Kingfisher. So it’s no surprise that Indigo is looking at Air Jamaica - it’s a struggling carrier that is looking for someone to pick up the pieces and nurse it back to health (if that’s possible).

Of course, were Indigo and Oaktree to buy Air Jamaica, there would be tremendous synergies (man I hate that word) between Air Jamaica and Spirit. Spirit has made a huge push into the Caribbean and Latin America over the last couple years, so this would fit right into their geographic niche. The possibility of a Caribbean hub seems appealing for flowing traffic to smaller Caribbean destinations, though I must admit I don’t know the full dynamics of the area.

In short, I certainly can see the potential for Spirit and Air Jamaica to come together, but it won’t be Spirit itself doing the buying.