Spirit Airlines could have avoided its shutdown this past weekend if the business had merged with Frontier Airlines, according to a former executive who helped lead both companies.
Barry Biffle, who resigned as Frontier CEO in December, said mass layoffs wouldn’t have happened if the Frontier-Spirit merger deal had been sealed.
Frontier initially expressed interest in acquiring Spirit in 2022, but its offer was overshadowed by a competing bid from JetBlue that same year. JetBlue, however, was unsuccessful in its bid when a federal judge ruled in favor of the Biden administration by striking down the Spirit merger on antitrust grounds in 2024.
“Everyone knows I wanted to merge with Spirit,” Biffle told Forbes in an article published on Wednesday. “We made an offer. But JetBlue came in and made what was believed to be the higher offer. Spirit could have survived if they had accepted our agreement and merged with us.”
The former Frontier CEO, who was once Spirit’s chief marketing officer and had worked at other airlines, also revealed he has spoken with dozens of former Spirit employees in the hours and days since they were laid off. Spirit officially ceased operations Saturday.
“I [was] talking to people all weekend, and I was up most of the night on Saturday,” he said in the interview. “I spent nine years there. I have a lot of friends there. I hired some of them, and I helped build it. I felt bad for those folks. If you’re a pilot and you’re 55, starting over at the bottom of the seniority list is very tough.”
Major U.S. airlines, including United and American, have begun interviewing Spirit pilots and flight attendants. The Transportation Department is providing employee support, and Florida is similarly helping by offering career resources and reemployment assistance this week.
Following its failed merger with JetBlue, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in less than a year. The budget carrier, which had been in dire financial straits, could not reach a deal with the federal government to continue operations.
This week, a lawyer for Spirit told a bankruptcy court that the airline’s demise was deeply intertwined with surging jet fuel prices caused by the unresolved Iran war.
All eyes are on Frontier now as its business could suffer a similar fate. Like Spirit, Frontier is known for its cheap airfares.
FLORIDA AND JETBLUE AIDING SPIRIT EMPLOYEES AFTER AIRLINE SHUT DOWN
At the moment, Frontier is doing well. The company on Tuesday reported $1.1 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the year, up 17% from the same period last year. On the earnings call, Frontier CEO Jimmy Dempsey said the carrier expects a 3%-5% boost in revenue per available seat mile now that Spirit no longer exists. Frontier previously overlapped with Spirit on roughly 30% of its flight routes, he noted.
Biffle is optimistic about Frontier’s future, saying the company “is in a great spot” and calling Dempsey a “great CEO.” The former executive also recognizes the need for low-cost alternatives to major U.S. carriers, telling Forbes that “a large portion of our customers couldn’t afford to fly without the likes of Frontier and Spirit.”
