JetBlue Airways, which is approaching a key moment in its bid to win U.S. government approval for its proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines, is moving forward with its plans Monday to help build a new terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, as the New York-based carrier and Broward County launch construction of a project costing $404 million.
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Monday afternoon, with appearances by public officials including U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher, County Administrator Monica Cepero, and County Aviation CEO/Director Mark Gale. JetBlue will be represented by its president and chief operating officer, Joanna Geraghty.
“It was 23 years ago that JetBlue’s first ever flight took off from JFK to FLL, and we now send customers to more than 40 destinations from Fort Lauderdale,” Geraghty said in a prepared statement released by the Broward County Aviation Department.
“As the customer-centric alternative to the high-fare legacy airlines that dominate South Florida, we are thrilled to continue our work as an active partner with BCAD on further expansion to increase capacity, which will enable us to reach more than 250 daily departures by 2027 following our planned combination with Spirit,” she said.
The event comes just one week ahead of an antitrust trial scheduled before a federal judge in Boston, where the U.S. government has sued to stop JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit.
The 230,000-square-foot project, which would become the fifth terminal at the airport, would among other things feature five passenger gates, inbound and outbound baggage-processing facilities, a security checkpoint, retail and food and beverage concessions, and two elevated pedestrian bridges, according to authorizing legislation approved by the Broward County Commission.
The terminal, according to the statement, will connect to the Cypress parking garage and Terminal 4, which is now occupied by Spirit, through multi-level pedestrian bridges.
“We’re excited about FLL’s new terminal and expect it’s going to be a welcomed and much-needed asset to accommodate our airport’s growth,” Cepero, the county administrator said.
Preliminary work has already started on the east side of Terminal 4 with “site clearing and tree mitigation.” Construction is expected to take three years with completion in mid-2026, the aviation department said.
The project, whose total cost has risen to $404 million from $305 million in 2021, according to county documents, is being funded by airport bonds, Florida Department of Transportation grants, and passenger facility charges.
According to the aviation department’s statement, the project is likely to generate “approximately 3,400 direct and indirect construction-related jobs,” and “create between 1,000 and 1,250 permanent new jobs at FLL.”
“The new terminal will help provide the needed critical infrastructure required to propel FLL forward by creating opportunities for new and existing airline partners to grow and help set the stage for future Master Plan expansion activities,” said Gale, the department’s CEO/director.
“The project also includes private and commercial vehicle terminal curb fronts, as well as an access roadway system that will connect to the existing, lower arrival-level roadway and outbound roadway system,” according to county documents.
JetBlue now occupies Terminal 3 on the airport’s west side. Currently, JetBlue and Spirit are still operating as separate independent airlines pending the outcome of JetBlue’s efforts to win government approval for the proposed buyout.
A growth-minded airport
The airport is served by nearly two dozen airlines, with Spirit, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Frontier Airlines among the predominant carriers in terms of traffic volume.
Over the years, the airport has positioned itself as a more convenient, and often cheaper, alternative to Miami International Airport, with not only domestic flights to U.S. cities, but direct international flights to a wide variety of destinations in the Caribbean and Central and South America.
According to a letter to the public from Gale on the airport website, year-over-year passenger traffic rose to 23.7 million from 21.3 million through August.
Leonard Zhukovsky // Shutterstock
JetBlue Airways, which has made aa long-term commitment to expand its Florida service, is moving forward with its plan to help build a new terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The airport recently added Bermudair, a new carrier serving the wealthy Atlantic enclave of Bermuda, and El Al Israel, the national airline of Israel, which was scheduled to start seasonal flights to Tel Aviv this month.
But in September, the airport lost Norse Atlantic Airways, a Norwegian-based carrier serving Oslo, London, Paris and Berlin. The carrier decided to move its South Florida service to Miami, citing better business opportunities.
An expanded Florida commitment
Earlier this year, JetBlue, under pressure from the Justice Department, took several steps to persuade federal regulators to approve its Spirit deal, which would result in the disappearance of Spirit, an ultra low-cost carrier that has operated as a hometown South Florida airline for 30 years.
In doing so, it made a major public commitment ito expand service in Florida, with Fort Lauderdale as a focal point.
After outbidding Frontier Airlines to buy Spirit last year, JetBlue said in February it would operate more than 250 daily flights out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood by 2027, starting with service to Tallahassee in January 2024.
JetBlue said it would “offer flights to approximately 30 markets not served by either JetBlue or Spirit from Fort Lauderdale today and would add more flight frequencies to approximately 30 additional markets.”
The airline, which also services Miami International Airport, said the combined carriers would “serve from Fort Lauderdale approximately 90 of the top 100 Miami markets.”
JetBlue also said it would serve Europe from Fort Lauderdale, as well as destinations not serviced from the Broward airport today. Those destinations include Canada, Antigua in the Caribbean, Belize and Liberia, Costa Rica in Central America, and the U.S. cities of Minneapolis, Memphis and Savannah.
Last month, JetBlue announced it would transfer to discounter Allegiant Airlines all of the holdings of Spirit Airlines at Boston Logan International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. It would also turn over up to five gates and related ground facilities at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood “to promote ultra-low-cost carrier growth.”
The Spirit divestitures are subject to approval by local airport authorities, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation. They will take place only after the closure of the JetBlue-Spirit takeover.
That concession came after JetBlue entered into a settlement with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to expand its Florida service and employment in the state over a five- to seven-year period. The settlement effectively precluded Florida from becoming a co-plaintiff along with several other states that joined the Department of Justice in its suit against the merger.
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