Originally Posted by dera

The Judge had a very strict interpretation of the Clayton Act. For him it was enough that the merger may reduce competition in any city pair. And he only required preponderance of evidence to prove it.
He dismissed the failing business defense, because Spirit executives had testified that they had a plan for profitability (don't they all say that?), and the final blow was that no other ULCC is big enough to replace Spirit in the markets they serve. And by markets he went by city pairs, not the segment as a whole as the airlines argued.