Frontier makes a second bid for Spirit as budget airlines struggle

No-frills, budget airlines often lead the industry in customer complaints, according to government data. So, if one were to disappear, would it be missed by travellers?

That is a question United States regulators will be asking after Frontier Airlines said Wednesday that it wanted to buy Spirit Airlines, which sought bankruptcy protection late last year.

Spirit said almost immediately that it’s not interested in the sale, and an attempted merger between the two airlines came to nothing in 2022, yet Frontier has not indicated it is ready to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Other discount airlines are on much better financial footing than Spirit, but they, too, are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Most industry experts think Frontier Airlines and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum, and that there is still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking.

And the most profitable US airlines have begun winning over a larger share of travellers scouring for deals with new ticket offerings.