Spirit Rejects Frontier Once Again, Declares Autonomy

Spirit Airlines has once more turned down a takeover proposal from competitor Frontier to merge. The ultra-low-cost carrier expressed its intention to independently pursue a process aimed at emerging from bankruptcy protection.

Let’s see what’s new and why Spirit said no to the third proposal from its low-fare competitor.

Spirit to Frontier: It’s Not Enough

Spirit said in a statement late on Tuesday that it rejected another offer from Frontier. Spirit said the offer was the same as Frontier’s proposal from earlier this month.

Frontier offered Spirit’s shareholders $400 million in debt and a 19% stake in Frontier. This was essentially the same bid Frontier had made on February 4, worth a total of $2.1 billion in stock and cash.

Spirit had rejected that bid — the third try by Frontier to buy it — saying that it was inadequate. Spirit noted back then that the offer was less than the $2.9 billion merger that the airlines had agreed to in 2022. That was before Spirit shareholders went with a higher offer from JetBlue, which was later blocked by a federal judge, leaving Spirit to face its dire financial situation by itself.

At the same time, Spirit said that it was open to negotiating a better deal with Frontier.

On February 7, Spirit said it submitted a counterproposal to Frontier, which Frontier refused on February 10, only to present again the same offer it had made a week earlier. And then Spirit’s latest refusal came.

Now, Spirit vows to continue “to advance and conclude its restructuring process,” which it said should take the company out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the first quarter of the year. On Thursday, the plan will be evaluated by a bankruptcy court, but Spirit should have no trouble there. The airline said that “approximately 99.99% of all voting creditors have voted to accept the plan.”

Spirit has been operating under bankruptcy protection since November 2024. It filed for Chapter 11 protection after the second attempt to merge with Frontier failed, when the airlines could not agree on terms.

Spirit Wants to Go Upscale to Save Itself

After 4 years without a profit, Spirit came up last year with a plan it called “Enhancing the Guest Experience.” This plan aimed to restore profitability by shifting away from its classic low-fare model and adopting a more traditional legacy airline approach.

It sought to attract higher-paying customers by providing more upscale seating options and revamping the Spirit Airlines Free Spirit loyalty program with new elite status tiers and enhanced benefits for its most loyal flyers.

This also involved selling 4 different fare types: Basic, Standard, Premium Economy, and BFS (“Big Front Seat” with more legroom).

With this latest rejection, a merger of Frontier and Spirit becomes even less likely. A Frontier-Spirit merger would have created an airline behind only American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines by number of passengers carried per year.

Final Thoughts

Spirit Airlines has rejected a takeover bid by rival Frontier again, making it the third collapsed attempt to merge the 2 airlines.

Spirit wants to continue working independently to exit bankruptcy and return to profit. If it succeeds, it may continue to operate as an independent airline, but with one thing already for sure: A new, post-bankruptcy Spirit may no longer provide the incredibly low fares for which it gained a reputation.