Spirit Airlines & Frontier Airlines Announce Merger

LONDON – In big news for the American low-cost market, Spirit Airlines & Frontier Airlines have announced a merger, under which the companies will combine.

The $6.6bn cash and stock deal for this merger will aim to drive competition and expand services to underserved small and mid-sized cities across the U.S.

Commenting on the deal was William A. Franke, the Chair of Frontier’s Board of Directors:

Adam Moreira (AEMoreira042281), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

“We worked jointly with the Board of Directors and senior management team across both carriers to arrive at a combination of two complementary businesses that together will create America’s most competitive ultra-low fare airline for the benefit of consumers.”

Also commenting on this was Ted Christie, the CEO and President of Spirit:

“We are thrilled to join forces with Frontier to further democratize air travel. This transaction is centered around creating an aggressive ultra-low fare competitor to serve our Guests even better, expand career opportunities for our Team Members and increase competitive pressure, resulting in more consumer-friendly fares for the flying public.”

“We look forward to uniting our talented teams to shake up the airline industry while also continuing our commitment to excellent Guest service.”

Both sides outlined a lot of benefits behind this merger including:

Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Deliver $1 billion in annual consumer savings.
Offer more than 1,000 daily flights to over 145 destinations in 19 countries, across complementary networks.
Expand with more than 350 aircraft on order to deliver more ultra-low fares.
Increase access to ultra-low fares by adding new routes to underserved communities across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Deliver even more reliable service through a variety of operational efficiencies.
Expand frequent flyer and membership offerings.

On top of this, the two sides are expected to hire 10,000 people by 2026 as well as thousands of additional bobs at the companies’ business partners.

In all, this is a big step for American travel, and will no doubt continue to put pressure on its low-cost and legacy competitors going into the future.