Frontier, Spirit Airlines revive merger talks- WSJ

Investing.com– Frontier Airlines (NASDAQ:ULCC) is considering a renewed bid for peer Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE:SAVE) as the latter continues discussions with debtholders over a potential bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The two have been in recent discussions over a potential takeover, although no definitive agreement has been reached, the WSJ report said. Any deal will likely happen as part of Spirit’s potential bankruptcy. 

The budget airline had earlier this week extended a deadline to refinance its debt, as it struggles to pay back $1.1 billion by the end of the year.  

Frontier and Spirit have been engaging in on-and-off talks over a potential merger since 2016. They had reached a $2.9 billion deal in 2022, which was interrupted by a competing offer from JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ:JBLU), who then won a fierce bidding war for the budget airline.

But the JetBlue-Spirit merger was blocked by the U.S. government on grounds that it would hurt competition. 

Frontier is currently grappling with a strike involving over 2,000 pilots, amid calls for better pay and benefits.