Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines have revived merger discussions, according to a Bloomberg News report. The outlet reported that sources said a transaction could be announced by the end of the year.
The two carriers had previously planned to merge in 2022 before JetBlue attempted a hostile takeover bid to merge that same year. The JetBlue-Spirit merger was blocked in 2024 by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
At the start of this year, Frontier had proposed two merger offers to Spirit amid its Chapter 11 restructuring — both of which were rejected. Spirit instead moved ahead with its standalone premium offering plan, and emerged from restructuring in March 2025.
At the time, a Frontier spokesperson told Airline Economics: “We remain convinced that the combination of Spirit and Frontier would have created more value than Spirit's standalone plan.
"That said, we are disciplined acquirors and are focussed on delivering for Frontier shareholders at a time when our airline is performing well in a dynamic market environment.”
Spirit emerged from restructuring with newly issued shares held by its new owners, consisting primarily of existing creditors and investors.
Under the plan, Spirit equitised $795 million of funded debt, received $350 million of new equity investment, and issued $840 million new senior secured notes to its existing bondholders.
A person familiar with the matter had said at the time that a merger agreement could still be viable once the new owners of Spirit “look under the hood” and assess the value of Spirit. They added that the rebranded Spirit may mean a better chance of a merger.
However, Spirit would file for bankruptcy again in August 2025, citing liquidity pressures from softening demand and macroeconomic volatility.
Spirit and Frontier declined to comment.
As part of its restructuring plan, Spirit reached an agreement on Monday (December 15) with its senior secured noteholders to amend its debtor-in-possession (DIP) credit agreement.
The amendment provides for the previously agreed third funding round of an incremental $100 million, which was fulfilled yesterday, with around $50 million available immediately to Spirit.
The remaining amount will be available upon meeting certain conditions of its Chapter 11 restructuring plan.
Last week, the airline ratified new agreements with its pilots and flight attendants.
Spirit Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), voted 82% in favour of the changes, with nearly 79% of eligible pilots participating in the ratification vote.
“This vote represents Spirit pilots' direct investment in the airline's future,” said Spirit Airlines Master Executive Council chairman Ryan Muller.
“Spirit pilots made a difficult choice that provides the company with what it needs from labour to secure financing and complete its restructuring.”
Muller said Spirit had sought "far deeper cuts” but the association had “preserved all core work rules, including all scheduling and quality-of-life provisions”.
“Instead, we negotiated temporary reductions to pay rates and retirement contributions, effective January 1, 2026,” said Muller.
The agreement ensures these are restored through guaranteed increases from August 1, 2028, and January 1, 2029. Spirit's contributions to retirement funds will be fully restored by July 1, 2029.
Spirit has also agreed to cut its fleet in half as part of its restructuring plan.