NEW YORK (AP) -- JetBlue's CEO says his airline doesn't need to combine with another carrier to compete with Southwest.
According to an internal memo obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, CEO Dave Barger says growing too fast through an acquisition could jeopardize JetBlue Airways Corp.'s financial stability.
The 10-year-old airline, which is based in New York City, was mentioned by some analysts as a deal candidate after Southwest Airlines Co. agreed to buy AirTran Holdings Inc. for $1.4 billion on Monday. Those airlines are JetBlue's main discount rivals.
Barger says in the memo that "airlines that grow through merger may be bigger, but they're also distracted by their own integration issues, and they usually take their eye off the customer."
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