JETBLUE AIRWAYS is buying Spirit Airlines, Thursday in a $3.8 billion deal, a day after Spirit and Frontier Airlines agreed to abandon their merger proposal. / CHRIS O'MEARA / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
NEW YORK (AP) – JetBlue Airways has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion and create the nation's fifth-largest airline if the deal can win approval from antitrust regulators. The agreement Thursday capped a months-long bidding war and arrives one day after Spirit's attempt to merge with fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines fell apart.…