Major Podcast Incoming
From Central Air by Josh Barro, Megan McArdle & Ben Dreyfuss
May 6, 2026 · 1h 18m
About this episode
The episode features an interview with Gary Leff discussing the challenges faced by Spirit Airlines and the broader implications of government policies on the airline industry.
On this week's show: Gary Leff, author of the View From the Wing blog on the airline industry, joins us to discuss who killed Spirit Airlines — the airline made strategic errors, but it could have been profitably acquired by JetBlue years ago if not for a series of Biden-era anti-trust policy failures . The Trump administration tried to commit its own policy error — it wanted to buy the airline, making Spirit’s troubles into taxpayers’ problem — but fortunately, Spirit’s existing creditors refused to be crammed down, and there was no deal to be had. We have a wide-ranging conversation for you with Gary on the relationship between the government and the airlines — whether United could really be allowed to buy American, what’s going to become of the financially-troubled JetBlue, why Europe has a more robustly competitive low-cost airline industry than the U.S. does, and much more. Also this week: We discuss hopeful federal news on housing policy and a grim housing policy outlook in our nation’s capital. Sign up for updates from Central Air at www.centralairpodcast.com . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes…
People in this episode
Hosts: Josh Barro, Megan McArdle, Ben Dreyfuss
Guest: Gary Leff
Topics covered
- airline industry
- anti-trust policy
- housing policy
- government relations
- financial troubles
- low-cost airlines
Keywords
- Spirit Airlines
- JetBlue
- anti-trust
- housing policy
- airline competition
- Biden
- Trump administration
- financial troubles
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Spirit Airlines, JetBlue, Biden, Trump administration, United, American, Europe, Central Air
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