News
Merger for Spirit & Frontier Airlines
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
A merger is on the horizon for Frontier and Spirit airlines. The companies have reached an agreement and are expected to combine by the end of 2022.
If the merger is approved by regulators, it would make the combined airline the fifth largest in the United States.
“The strength of Spirit in the east and Frontier in the west makes the merger ideal and could possibly push down fares on existing flights. It’s not about reducing competition and raising fares, rather it’s about getting lower fares to more people,” said President and CEO of Frontier, Barry Biffle.
The combined airline is expected to have 493 aircrafts in operation by 2026 and over 1000 daily flights to 145 destinations worldwide.
Both Frontier and Spirit airlines have tried the TCI as a destination; the merger could signal a return as both begged off the route when demand plummeted, first to the financial crisis of 2008, then to the omicron surge of this past Christmas holiday season.