WSJ News Alert: Frontier Group, Spirit Airlines Merge in $6.6 Billion Deal
 

CNBC:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/fron...A9y9n3eYCapHNw

Spirit stock way up in premarket, Frontier down.

No word on which brand name survives going forward but i would wager Frontier has less negative reputation. Spirit has become synonymous in the public mind with gatehouse fistfights.

Bad news for Frontier consumers
 

I fear higher fares as no reason to compete with each other and changes to Frontier loyalty program to be more in line with Spirit. No free stretch seating for elites and status obtained by fare spending instead of actual miles. I now question whether it is worth trying to fly 100k miles this year in order to keep 100k elite status for next year.

Such sad news. Frontier was bad enough. I really have no desire to deal with anything Spirit. The culture and pax are far worse than Frontier!

This merger transition should be an absolute mess for everyone involved. Take two money-losing airlines with awful operations, IT systems and customer interfaces and smash them together. The only thing they have going for them is the similar Airbus lineup between the two.

Yes but Spirit is a much more well-known name. It could really go either way IMO.

-J.

This is what I'm worried about. Higher fares and a "different" class of clientele makes for an overall less pleasant experience. I've gotten so used to those $50 RT day trips where fellow passengers were quiet and I could just listen to an audiobook in peace for the flight that the thought of paying more for a raucous, Spirit-like experience just turns me away altogether.

There could potentially be some resistance to the deal from the feds, as the current administration isn't a big fan of huge mergers, but I'm not optimistic about that.

The FF elite benefits being based off spend was my first worry.

On the other hand, Frontier is about to be less convenient to me personally because of most flights moving to Midway from O'Hare so this might actually benefit me with O'Hare flights.

So my Frontier miles I have had for years (Barclays card) - will those be transferable to Spirit ?

Is Frontier and Spirit aligning as a way of "backing each other up" for flight cancellations, weather, etc ??

I just messaged my friend about that but in the reverse side. I've been keeping about 12k Spirit miles alive with surveys for about 4 years now though I finally flew spirit in Dec. Guess I can finally use them when they combine.

I'm not so worried about the clientele. I've flown both airlines in the past without issue and noticed similar clientele. Which routes do you notice have different? Bad clientele can even be on legacy airlines.

However, I think the merger isn't consumer friendly as it will result in higher fares, and the operational meltdowns will affect more passengers. In the past, if Spirit had a meltdown, at least it wasn't at the same time Frontier was having one.

Locally, I also wonder how NK/F9 will operate TTN and ACY, and PHL. ILG was likely be cut if it is not already cut again. It'd be unfortunate to lose either TTN or ACY.

Initial thoughts.

I suppose, generally speaking, in the long run M&As are prone to be less consumer friendly after the initial benefits of the combined entity. The shareholders should benefit once they realize some "synergy," and hopefully pass on some of those savings to consumers. I think I've been on NK once, a flight from OAK to LAS. It seemed ok, and I don't recall anyone being overly boisterous or going crazy.

As to me personally, I don't think the merger could hurt, and only help. I find the F9 100K match an incredible value at $49, and use them only on a few routes, namely SFO - LAS, LAS to SAN, and generally only when they're priced at $20 or below with DD. I suppose, NK will offer some flexibility should I want to go through OAK?

I can't see this being a good thing as a frequent Frontier customer. But, trying to be positive, a larger route network, including destinations in South America, is potentially a plus.

Here's an interesting bit from the email (bolding mine):

-J.

F9 gets 51.5% of the "merger," so I expect F9 will be calling the shots.