Trump Wants Buyer for Spirit, Pans United-American Merger (4)

President Donald Trump said he would like to see a buyer emerge for Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. and was open to the government coming to the aid of the airline, while opposing a merger between American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc.

“Spirit’s in trouble, and I’d love somebody to buy Spirit,” Trump said Tuesday in an interview on CNBC, adding “maybe the federal government should help that one out” given there are 14,000 jobs at stake.

The president’s comments come as Spirit has considered offering the US government an equity stake in the discount carrier to ...