Déjà Vu All Over Again: Frontier Pushes Spirit Merger

Once scorned, twice shy doesn't appear to apply to Frontier Airlines, which on Wednesday said it has again made a "compelling proposal" to merge with Spirit Airlines. CNBC reports the two airlines announced they intended to merge in 2022, but an offer from JetBlue Airways ended up thwarting that plan. The JetBlue acquisition was eventually blocked by a federal judge a year ago after the DOJ sued, saying the deal would jack up prices for consumers. The merger bid was abandoned two months later, reports the AP, and Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection in November.

Frontier said in a release that after submitting its proposal it met with Spirit's board of directors and executives and representatives of Spirit's financial stakeholders. "As part of the discussions, Frontier shared materials with Spirit and its financial stakeholders regarding the benefits of the proposed transaction. The materials, which are based on Spirit's bankruptcy court filings, also demonstrate that Spirit's standalone plan will likely result in an unprofitable airline with a high debt load and limited likelihood of success." The AP reports Spirit is the biggest budget airline in America but has lost more than $2.5 billion in the past five years; it has debt payments totaling more than $1 billion coming due in 2025 and 2026. (More Frontier Airlines stories.)