On the day that Frontier Airlines announced its intent to merge with its fellow discount air carrier Spirit Airlines, the acquiring carrier suffered an ill-timed IT problem that briefly grounded its jets. So Monday presented a golden opportunity to the many bloggers who obsess about the airline industry and its complex web of points and incentives.
“Frontier And Spirit Plan To Merge And Create An Even Larger Terrible Airline,” wrote Cleveland blogger Dan Eleff, owner of the widely followed Dan’s Deals site. Eleff long has advised his readers to avoid Spirit and Frontier, part of the airline sector known as ultralow-cost carriers, on the grounds that customer service is bare-bones, the seats lack leg room, upcharging is pervasive and travelers can find themselves seriously stuck when things go wrong.
But for many people, an affordable ticket can mean the difference between taking a trip and not having the money to do so. And experience shows that when an ultralow-cost carrier is in the market, not only does it offer cheap fares, but average fares on all airlines tend to drop. You only need compare fares with the dominant O’Hare International Airport carriers American and United airlines when Spirit or Frontier competes here. The competition is good for Chicago consumers.
