JetBlue Airways Corporation's (NASDAQ: JBLU) stock fell to a new 10-year-low Tuesday following the company's disappointing earnings report.
On top of missing analysts' expectations, the company is preparing to go to court over its acquisition of Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE: SAVE).
The U.S. Department of Justice intervened earlier this year, suing JetBlue to prevent consolidation in the industry. If the JetBlue, Spirit merger is allowed to go through, it would make JetBlue just the fifth largest airline company in the U.S.
JetBlue plans to fundamentally change Spirits' planes. Spirit currently offers cheap flights by packing flights with lots of seats and withholding amenities such as TVs in the seats and more. JetBlue plans to refit Spirit's planes to make them look more like JetBlue: fewer seats and more amenities.
"JetBlue's plan would eliminate the unique competition that Spirit provides - and about half of all ultra-low-cost airline seats in the industry -and leave tens of millions of travelers to face higher fares and fewer options," the Justice Department said in a complaint filed in March.
Other airline stocks also traded lower on Tuesday. In addition to JetBlue and Spirit, the latter of which was down 12.10% at $11.48, close to its 52-week low, Southwest Airlines Co.'s (NYSE: LUV) stock hit new 52-week lows on Tuesday, trading around $22.30 a share late in the session. Southwest's stock is down more than 40% from its highs earlier this year.
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) has also not been safe from the battering in airline stocks. Delta's stock was trading at nearly $50 over the summer and is now around $31 a share.