--- title: "Sean Duffy Says Trump 'Loves' Big Deals, Signals Possibility For Mergers In US Aviation Sector" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/281989100.md" description: "Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy indicated that the Trump administration may be open to airline mergers, contingent on reviews of their impact on competition and consumer pricing. Duffy noted that President Trump favors significant deals and mentioned ongoing discussions about potential mergers in the aviation sector, particularly regarding JetBlue Airways. He also highlighted the FAA's efforts to increase air traffic controller staffing and the need for modernized equipment following recent incidents." datetime: "2026-04-08T05:33:53.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/281989100.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281989100.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/281989100.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Sean Duffy Says Trump 'Loves' Big Deals, Signals Possibility For Mergers In US Aviation Sector Transportation Secretary **Sean Duffy** has signalled approval for possible mergers between U.S. airlines amid rising jet fuel costs. ## Trump Loves Big Deals In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Duffy was asked about the **Donald Trump** administration’s view on possible airline mergers, to which the Transportation Secretary responded that it would depend on various factors. “That’s going to come through us \[Department of Transportation\], but also President Trump,” Duffy said, adding that Trump “loves to see big deals happen.” He also shared that any such deals would need to be reviewed by the administration, but said that there was “room for some mergers in the aviation industry” in the U.S. He also shared that there was a “lot of chatter” about mergers in the aviation industry, but he would gauge the impact of any proposals on “competition” within the sector, as well as pricing for consumers. “I’m not gonna pre-commit to anything, I’m gonna look at what comes through my desk and the President would look at that as well,” Duffy said, adding that any deals would also mean airlines would “peel off some of their larger assets.” ## JetBlue’s Potential Sale, FAA Bolsters Staff The news comes amid buzz around the potential sale of **JetBlue Airways Corp** (NASDAQ:JBLU) as the airline had reportedly sought advisers to evaluate a potential sale, as well as test the waters of how a merger with the likes of **United Airlines Holdings Inc** (NASDAQ:UAL), **Alaska Air Group Inc** (NYSE:ALK) or **Southwest Airlines Co** (NYSE:LUV) could be perceived by regulators amid antitrust fears. During the interview, Duffy also expanded on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to bolster its air traffic controller staff following reports that the agency sought to hire over 2,300 trainee controllers amid staff shortages stemming from last year’s government shutdown. ## Air Canada Crash Duffy had also shared the need for modernized air traffic control equipment and a stronger workforce following the **Air Canada** crash in New York’s LaGuardia airport. The DOT had sought an additional $19 billion to modernize the equipment over the already-approved $12.5 billion funding package. *Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by* following this link. *Photo courtesy: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com* ### Related Stocks - [IYT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IYT.US.md) - [XTN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XTN.US.md) - [JETS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JETS.US.md) - [JBLU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JBLU.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Kuaishou’s Kling AI reportedly picks banks for Hong Kong IPO targeting at least $1 billion](https://longbridge.com/en/news/301221615.md) - [‘Open Your Eyes,’ Says Top Investor About Oracle Stock](https://longbridge.com/en/news/301160283.md) - [Marvell Now Sees as Much as $90 Billion in Annual Sales by Fiscal 2031. Here's Why It's a Chip Stock to Buy.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/301114413.md) - [Palantir vs. Oracle – Why Daniel Ives Says Buy One, Hold the Other](https://longbridge.com/en/news/301155464.md) - [Broadcom's AI Revenue Is Growing at 221%. Here's Why Custom Chips Could Be a Bigger Business Than GPUs.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/301141333.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**