Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, the two largest “ultra” low-cost carriers in the U.S. have agreed to merge, creating what would become the fifth-largest airline in the country.
The deal, valued at $6.6 billion, is structured with Frontier Airlines controlling 51.5% of the merged airline while Spirit will hold the remaining 48.5%. Still to be determined is the name of the combined carrier, who will be CEO and the location of the airline’s headquarters. The chair of the new airline will be Bill Franke, the current chair of Frontier and managing partner of its parent company, Indigo Partners.
In a release announcing the agreement, Franke said the combined carrier “will create America’s most competitive ultra-low fare airline for the benefit of consumers.”
Following the merger announcement, a new website came online to help answer questions about the new airline. Located at EvenMoreUltraLowFares.com the carriers say they’ll have a combined 1,000+ daily flights to over 145 destinations. They’ll serve 19 countries on 283 aircraft.
They expect the stock and financial transaction to close in the second half of 2022.
