There’s been a lot of chatter this week about the possible targets from JetBlue for a merger, and among them Alaska makes the most sense, but are they interested?

JetBlue Explores Merger Targets

As Matthew recently reported in JetBlue Merger Talks Analysis, JetBlue has been actively exploring potential merger scenarios with a range of partners, including United, Alaska, and Southwest. The reporting makes clear this is not idle speculation but a structured evaluation, with advisers engaged and regulatory feasibility playing a central role in how each option is being considered. At its core, the move reflects mounting pressure on JetBlue to find a sustainable path forward after years of inconsistent profitability and a failed attempt to acquire Spirit Airlines.

What stands out in his analysis is how differently each potential partner would reshape JetBlue’s future. A tie-up with United offers the most obvious network and slot advantages but would face intense regulatory scrutiny, while Alaska presents a more palatable antitrust profile with less obvious synergy. Southwest, meanwhile, represents the most unconventional path, with significant cultural and operational hurdles. Taken together, the report underscores that JetBlue is not just exploring growth, it is confronting a pivotal moment that could redefine its place in the US airline industry.

I want to dive deeper into the Alaska angle for a number of reasons.

Alaska-JetBlue Is The Most Logical

As Matthew points out, the route network is perfect for an Alaska-JetBlue merger (though this would undoubtedly be an acquisition of JetBlue by Alaska Airlines.) Alaska has an excellent position on the west coast, and out to Hawaii. It’s spreading its wings from Seattle and already has international long haul from Hawaii to Asia as well. But the northeast is extremely limited both in terms of airports served and connectivity. No one in Boston wants to fly to Seattle or Portland to connect to west coast options. The same was true for JetBlue’s experiment with operations in Long Beach trying to setup a west coast hub.

However, pairing those two lucrative coastal markets would provide incredible coverage. In a few years together, it could make sense to add a midwest hub to carry some of the load.

Alaska has also had an exceptional run as of late, has cash, highly valued stock, and a management structure the industry can trust.

Reasons Alaska Could Be Interested

If Alaska is truly interested in becoming a global carrier, it would be hard to ignore the northeast US market. Expanding into that market would be incredibly expensive and deeply embedded flag carriers would fight tooth and nail, including JetBlue assuming there was no merger. Buying into it could be a different matter. The table is already set, the customers have similar ethos: happy to fly a regional carrier with international aspirations that provides better service and has a personality.

As a defensive measure, Alaska has an opportunity to block other mergers. JetBlue is in the market and will find a suitor (if it can gain DOJ approval.) Its market is desirable, so is its fleet even if it could be run more profitably than it has been in the last few years. United has indicated that it’s open to an agreement but it’s incumbent on JetBlue to come to terms. American wanted a tie-up, had one, then years after it was disallowed by the Biden DOJ is now suing its former partner. While Matthew suggests American might want JetBlue – and it might – the carrier is probably not on the best terms with JetBlue management to construct a favorable deal and it can’t afford to run itself let alone take on more debt. Alaska can swing in and ensure that no one else gets them and expands their footprint and that alone could be worthwhile.

Buying JetBlue also helps grow its ambitions internationally. There’s little doubt that the future of trans-Atlantic international travel, especially for premium markets, is going to be on a narrowbody aircraft. Alaska, itself, is adding flights this summer to Iceland from Seattle on a 737. A base on the east coast with routes that can go to both alliance partner cities like London, Madrid, and Helsinki, and underserved premium markets in Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, anywhere in western Europe, helps a great deal.

It’s not just the European routes, though. JetBlue also has excellent coverage throughout the northeast and via its Fort Lauderdale hub to destinations in the Caribbean. Alaska knows leisure markets well and was the largest operator to Hawaii for many years prior to its purchase of Hawaiian. But it has zero coverage in the Caribbean outside of Cancun and Belize City. Alaska with JetBlue could become a serious bi-coastal force.

Alaska could also cement its place as a serious contender domestically while it grows its international presence.

The credit card base could be an exciting component too, and would likely end Barclays involvement in the US airline affinity space entirely. TrueBlue is valued at $5.5bn (though $2.75bn was leveraged during COVID), and Bank of America only contributed $310MM last year, for which the airline still posted a substantial loss. The carrier also sells miles to American Express, Chase, Citi, and Capital One though each specific value is murkier. The airline expected $50MM in EBIT generated from its United partnership but this would almost certainly fall away in a an acquisition.

Reasons Alaska Will Pass

Jetblue is not in good financial shape. In 2024, the carrier posted a loss of nearly $800MM and while efforts in 2025 cut these losses by almost 25%, it still lost $600MM in 2025 too. At this pace the carrier will be breakeven at the turn of the decade. The value of the airline is not what it’s currently turning over but what it could be. That said, other mergers and acquisitions typically find significant cost savings when combining. Not just by reducing common route frequencies but also by shared resources in outstations (ex. instead of JetBlue and Alaska maintaining two check-in counters and gate allotments, it can reduce its overhead costs.) But these overlaps are limited ad thus so too would be cost savings.

Alaska is primarily a Boeing carrier with JetBlue an all-Airbus airline. This changes everything about the way a combined carrier would operate. It’s not just replacement parts and maintenance contracts but training facilities and range commonality. The Mint product from JetBlue is also something that the combined airline would want to keep especially for long haul flying internationally and trans-continental routes, but would be unlikely to equip across its own fleet even on its long haul narrowbody routes. That makes it tough to integrate.

The carrier is still busy with Hawaiian and its own expansion plans without inviting a regulatory challenge, and the mess of a far greater integration with more moving parts.

Would this type of acquisition face more scrutiny from oneworld than Hawaiian? Maybe, it’s a possible factor and as the airline grows globally, it’s something it will have to consider. American Airlines likely benefits from Alaska’s network participation in the Pacific Northwest and doesn’t really put up a fight in Los Angeles. But in the Northeast it could be a different story.

Conclusion

JetBlue should absolutely consider all viable options for a merger or an acquiring partner. Alaska could be a great fit for JetBlue, and frankly, US consumers. But Alaska doesn’t need another project and that’s exactly what JetBlue would be. It requires its own turn around, there’s no fleet commonality, and no significant operational cost savings. JetBlue might be a great fit for Alaska, but probably not right now. That said, I’d love to see it and it would make the combined carrier a juggernaut and offer serious competition on the coasts and against the majors.

What do you think? 

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PHOENIX — A suspect is in custody after fleeing from Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers overnight and hiding in a Phoenix neighborhood.

According to DPS, troopers attempted to stop a white BMW around 1:20 a.m. for speeding and displaying fictitious plates. The driver did not stop, and a pursuit was initiated.

Troopers later ended the pursuit due to safety concerns.

The vehicle was eventually found abandoned near 13th Avenue and McDowell Road. DPS says the suspect briefly drove again before getting out and running through nearby residential backyards.

Authorities say the suspect barricaded himself inside a shed in a backyard.

Phoenix police officers, including a K-9 unit and air support, responded to assist and set up a perimeter. The suspect was located and taken into custody after refusing commands to surrender.

Police say the suspect was treated for minor injuries and taken to a hospital.

No other injuries were reported.

Fifteen years after she lost her first baby to a rare and devastating birth defect, Andrea Lopez takes comfort in knowing that other Latina mothers might finally avoid the same pain.

In January, California became the first state to require food makers to add folic acid, a crucial vitamin, to corn masa flour used to make tortillas and other traditional foods widely used in her community.

It’s a long-delayed move aimed at reducing Hispanic infants’ disproportionately high rates of serious conditions called neural tube defects, which claimed Lopez’s son, Gabriel Cude, when he was 10 days old.

“It’s such a small effort for such a tremendous impact,” said Lopez, 44, who lives in Bakersfield and is now a lawyer with two young daughters. “There is very little that I wouldn’t do to spare anybody this heartache.”

A similar law takes effect in Alabama in June, and legislation is pending or being considered in Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Oregon. Four more states — Texas, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — have expressed “active interest” in the issue, according to the Food Fortification Initiative, an advocacy group that focuses on addressing micronutrient deficiencies.

“All women and children in the United States should have access to folic acid and have healthy babies,” said Scott Montgomery, the group’s director.

Corn masa was excluded from a national mandate

For nearly 30 years, folic acid, a key B vitamin, has been required to be added to enriched wheat and white breads, cereals and pastas in the U.S.

Decades of research show the 1998 requirement cut rates of serious defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly by about 30%, preventing about 1,300 cases a year. It is regarded as one of the top public health triumphs of the 20th century.

But corn masa flour, a staple used in Latino diets, was left out of the original fortification requirement — and rates of conditions such as spina bifida and anencephaly in that community have remained stubbornly high.

In 2016, federal regulators allowed, but did not require, folic acid to be added to corn masa products. By 2023, only about 1 in 7 corn masa flour products and no corn tortillas contained folic acid, a review found.

Higher rates of birth defects among Hispanic moms

Nationwide, Hispanic women have the highest rates of having those defects during pregnancy. In California, the rate among Hispanic mothers is twice as high as for white or Black women, state data show.

California’s new law — and the state’s huge buying power — could help expand its adoption nationwide, said state Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, who sponsored the legislation passed in 2024.

“You have to be the first oftentimes to get the ball rolling,” he said. “So, I’m glad other states have taken up that mantle.”

California’s action and pressure from advocates have already spurred changes.

Gruma Corp., the parent company of Mission Foods and Azteca Milling, has been involved in the fortification issue for nearly two decades. Azteca began selling some — but not all — varieties of Maseca, its largest brand of corn masa flour, with folic acid in 2016.

As of this year, 97% of the company’s retail sales in the U.S. include folic acid. The rest are expected to be fortified before July, Gruma said in a statement.

Mission Foods began fortification in 2024. It now adds folic acid to all of its branded and private label corn tortillas in the U.S.

Such actions by large producers have helped pave the way for smaller manufacturers to follow suit, according to a recent report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that has pushed for fortification.

Initially, the industry was concerned folic acid could affect flavor and the cost of changing labels, said Jim Kabbani, head of the Tortilla Industry Association. But he now expects tortilla makers will start selling fortified products on a broader scale.

“I think overall the train has left the station and it will be more and more states,” he said.

Public health experts cheer the growing momentum.

“The science is clear: Folic acid fortification works,” said Vijaya Kancherla, an Emory University epidemiology professor and director of the Center for Spina Bifida Prevention. “It’s safe. It’s proven. And it’s cost-effective.”

RFK Jr. calls corn masa fortification ‘insanity’

That view contrasts sharply with critics — including some at the highest level of government — who regard fortification of the food supply as a form of government overreach.

Late last year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized California’s new law in a post on X: “This is insanity. California is waging war against her children — targeting the poor and communities of color,” he wrote.

A spokesman for Kennedy declined to explain the comments.

Social media feeds are rife with people claiming that folic acid fortification is “toxic” or that people with a certain gene variation known as MTHFR can’t properly process the vitamin.

None of those claims is accurate, according to advocates and medical experts.

“What’s truly insane is that our nation’s top health official is spreading false claims and frightening people into avoiding a nutrient that’s proven to prevent birth defects and save babies’ lives,” said Eva Greenthal, CSPI’s senior policy scientist.

At fortification doses, folic acid “has never been shown to harm individuals or populations,” said Dr. Jeffery Blount, a pediatric neurosurgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who works to prevent neural tube defects in the U.S. and globally.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes that “people with the MTHFR gene variant can process all types of folate, including folic acid.”

Even Kennedy’s new federal dietary guidelines support fortification. Documents backing the guidelines advise pregnant women to eat folate-rich foods, such as leafy green vegetables, beans and lentils. But they also acknowledge that folic acid from fortified foods or supplements is “critical” before conception and during early pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects.

“Folic acid fortification of corn masa flour could help prevent” neural tube defects, the CDC website adds.

Without fortification, ‘It’s just too late’

Neural tube defects, which affect about 2,000 babies each year in the U.S., occur in the first weeks after conception, when the tube that forms the spine and brain fails to develop properly.

That’s often before many women realize they’re pregnant. More than 40% of U.S. pregnancies are unintended. In those cases, many women won’t have been preparing for pregnancy, noted Dr. Kimberly BeDell, medical director of a rehabilitation clinic that helps children with spina bifida at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, California.

“Even women’s best efforts in going to an OB right away and starting prenatal vitamins, it’s just too late,” BeDell said.

Adding folic acid to corn masa, the way it is added to other grains, is a way to ensure the nutrient reaches the wider population that needs it, she added.

At age 28, pregnant with her first child, Andrea Lopez didn’t know about the importance of folic acid or that the vitamin might be missing from her diet.

Then, an ultrasound mid-way through pregnancy showed that her baby had anencephaly, a fatal condition in which the skull fails to develop properly.

Lopez carried the pregnancy to term and Gabriel lived for 10 days. The pain of his loss never goes away, she said, adding that Gabriel would have been a high school freshman this year. She supports California’s law requiring folic acid fortification of corn masa and finds it “mind-boggling” that the action took so long to enforce.

“Trust me, you don’t want to go through this,” she said. “He’s the love of my life. I have two little girls that survived, but he’s my first born. He is my only son.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.