Only one witness today; Nicholas Hill a PhD economist. Here's a webpage on him:
https://www.bateswhite.com/people-Nicholas-Hill.html
Talked a lot of economic details that covered economics/modeling and market impacts. I was able to follow it but I won't go too deep on details.
The Judge asked several questions for his personal clarification.
Dr Hill testified that Jetblue has a higher impact on lowering fares than Spirit. Also testified that Jetblue entering markets increases passenger traffic more than Spirit entering markets.
Most of Dr Hill's testimony refuted a DOJ expert's testimony ... Dr Gowrishankaran.
https://econ.columbia.edu/econpeople/gautam-gowrisankaran/
Dr Gowrishankaran testified last Monday or Tuesday; I was unable to attend but reports indicate that he didn't do well as an expert witness.
I was very impressed with Dr Hill. He shredded Dr G's (I'm not spelling that again) testimony and report.
Cross examination by DOJ of Dr Hill: I felt Dr Hill did fine in cross; no blows landed by DOJ. I sat next to a guy who does analysis for investors. Here's a clip on him talking about the merger a while ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFN_iXHdF78
Mr Cohen used to be on the fence about the merger; he now leans toward it passing. He's now in the camp that Jetblue is winning the case. Here's his company's website:
https://mdcfinancial.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2LiX9-vkggMVi1BHAR2sLAdPEAAYASAAEgIgU_D_BwE
The schedule is now changing. Court sessions on Tues, Thurs and next Tues will be closing arguments.
This Fri and next Mon were cancelled. ... as of right now.
I expect a ruling around the 11th in favor of the merger.