TAMPA, Fla. — Denver-based Frontier Airlines, the budget carrier with a crew base in Tampa, is buying Miramar, Florida-headquartered Spirit Airlines.
The $2.9 billion deal represents a merger between two of the nation's most prominent low-cost air travel providers. Together, they'll form the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S.
So, what does this mean for the Tampa Bay area?
To understand that, we'll first have to examine how things look now.
Let's look at the region's three largest airports: Tampa International Airport, St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport, and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.
Neither airline flies into St. Pete, so that narrows it down to Tampa and Sarasota. Only Frontier flies to Sarasota, so we'll start with that one.
Currently, Frontier operates just four direct routes from Sarasota. And, they're actually only offered seasonally. They go to Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Philadelphia. Unless there's some yet-unannounced major expansion in Sarasota, we don't expect the merger to change much, if anything, there.
That leaves us with Tampa, the region's largest airport. Both airlines offer service to TPA for a combined 51 routes. Spirit makes up 28 of those, with Frontier having 23.
Frontier had already been working to bolster its presence in Tampa, where it opened a brand new crew base in May. Hundreds of employees were shuffled to the region. Roughly 250 Frontier flight attendants and 140 pilots now call Tampa their base, and those numbers were already expected to climb as part of Frontier's strategic plans.
Now, Frontier is going to be well-positioned to handle the Spirit routes at TPA, considering its crew positioning. A TPA spokesperson said last year's opening of the new crew base signaled "confidence in the Tampa Bay market."
So, what changes might people living around here see?
Well, for one, more jobs are already being created, and the merger could contribute to additional openings beyond the ones we already knew about. That same TPA spokesperson confirmed Frontier is still looking to hire 1,000 employees. And a job fair is being held next week to try to make a dent in that. As the crew base grows, don't be surprised if you hear about more hiring events or route expansions.
A Frontier Airlines spokesperson says the combined airline is going to be offering more than 1,000 flights daily. Those will be going to more than 145 destinations in 19 countries when complementary networks are factored in. It's likely Frontier will offer more direct flight options from Tampa in the coming years.
Overall, Frontier says it has more than 350 planes on order. Its long-term goals include flying to more places in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. A spokesperson says the airline wants to focus on both major cities and underserved communities.
With a big crew base in Tampa for Frontier and Spirit already based in Florida, could the combined company's future headquarters actually be in the Bay area?
There's been no indication of that. But, it is possible that the Frontier headquarters moves out of Denver.
"No determination has been made on where the combined company’s headquarters will be, CEO, brand, etc. That will be determined at a later point in time," Frontier's director of corporate relations explained in an email.
For passengers, what does all this mean for loyalty programs?
We asked both Spirit and Frontier about this. Neither directly answered our questions. A spokesperson for Spirit said both would continue to operate as separate businesses until the regulatory review process wraps up.
“The merger is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including completion of the regulatory review process and approval by Spirit stockholders," Spirit told us.
However, we did get some hints about the futures of the loyalty programs in the emails the airlines sent to their customers.
"Our combined airline will have expanded offerings for our FRONTIER Miles and DISCOUNT DEN members," Frontier told passengers.
In its message to consumers, Frontier promised its benefits programs were not changing and said people would continue to earn miles as normal via Frontier.
In a similar email to its customers, Spirit said Free Spirit members and credit card holders would keep earning points as normal.
It would seem that a combined loyalty program will likely be on the horizon. But, nothing is changing just yet.