Days prior to Spirit Aviation Holdings filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a year, executives of the parent company of Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) and Frontier Airlines Holdings, parent of Frontier Airlines (F9, Denver International), have engaged in high-level talks about potential efforts to chart a path forward, Bloomberg News reported.
Spirit chairman Robert Milton sat down with Bill Franke, the Frontier chair, to discuss Spirit’s efforts to rebuild and the state of the US airline industry. However, there was no discussion around a merger or acquisition, Bloomberg said, quoting people with knowledge of the matter.
Spirit has rejected several series of merger proposals from Frontier, including one earlier in 2025, before the carrier emerged from its previous Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation. That last bid offered Spirit’s shareholders USD400 million in debt and 19% of Frontier’s common equity following the merger. The two airlines previously attempted to merge in 2022, but Frontier was outbid by a higher offer from JetBlue Airways, which was ultimately blocked by a federal judge.
Just six months after concluding its restructuring process, Spirit Airlines has found itself again in a dire financial position. Earlier in August, it warned about a potential cash crunch and inked a USD275 million loan. However, Moody’s Ratings forecasted the airline will burn through more than USD500 million in cash this year, and could default if it violates minimum liquidity covenants by year-end. The ultra-low-cost carrier filed for a new Chapter 11 on August 29.
ch-aviation has reached out to both companies for comment. None was immediately available.
Frontier announces new routes overlapping Spirit's services
Frontier Airlines announced twenty new routes, including 18 on city pairs already served by Spirit Airlines, which will be launched in late 2025 through early 2026.
These new routes are:
- Baltimore International-Cancún, weekly, starting November 22;
- Baltimore-Fort Lauderdale International,three times per week, starting November 20;
- Baltimore-Houston Intercontinental, three times per week, starting November 20;
- Baltimore-New Orleans International, twice weekly, starting February 12, 2026;
- Charlotte International- Detroit Metropolitan, twice weekly, starting November 23;
- Charlotte-Fort Lauderdale, thrice weekly, starting November 21;
- Dallas/Fort Worth-Fort Lauderdale, thrice weekly, starting November 20;
- Dallas Fort Worth-New Orleans, twice weekly, from February 13, 2026;
- Detroit-Cancun, weekly from November 22;
- Detroit-Fort Lauderdale, three times per week, starting November 20;
- Detroit-Houston, thrice weekly, starting November 21;
- Detroit-Miami International, thrice weekly, starting November 21;
- Detroit-New Orleans, twice weekly, starting February 12, 2026;
- Fort Lauderdale-Chicago O'Hare, three times per week, starting November 20;
- Houston-Fort Lauderdale, weekly from November 22;
- Houston-Guatemala City, thrice weekly, starting December 18;
- Houston-New Orleans, twice weekly, starting February 13;
- Houston-Philadelphia International, thrice weekly from November 21;
- Houston-San Salvador International, three times per week from December 19; and
- Houston-San Pedro Sula, weekly from December 20.
In an interview, Frontier's chief executive Barry Biffle said these routes are not launched with the aim of applying pressure on Spirit but having more seats and routes to more places in the top 20 metropolitan areas in the United States.
"We are just looking at the holes we have in our network to be the primary low-cost carrier in every major metro. We looked at those opportunities that we announced today, and we saw those as a void that we needed in Detroit, we needed in Houston, we needed in Charlotte, Dallas, Baltimore," said Biffle as reported by Travel Weekly.