The impending loss of Spirit Airlines as South Florida’s hometown air carrier could have a number of ramifications, ranging from hits on local employment and facilities to spikes in the prices leisure travelers pay to visit the region.
This week, the Miramar, Florida-based carrier received an unsolicited $3.6 billion buyout offer from JetBlue Airways, which said it would integrate Spirit’s fleet, employees and route network into its own operation. The offer poses a difficult choice for Spirit’s board of directors, which now faces the task of choosing between JetBlue’s offer and an earlier bid from discounter Frontier Airlines of Denver, which wants to bring Spirit into its fold through a $2.9 billion deal.
While the Spirit board had yet to decide whether to stick with Frontier or opt for JetBlue’s offer, here is what might be in store for workers, South Florida facilities and customers:
Workforce
Both Frontier and JetBlue declared they intend to expand their route systems using Spirit employees — but neither has said precisely how many. An estimated 3,400 work for Spirit in South Florida, and close to 10,000 system-wide.
“By 2026, Spirit and Frontier expect to add 10,000 direct jobs and thousands of additional jobs at the companies’ business partners,” the two airlines said in a February statement when they announced their merger plan. “Given the growth of the combined company, it is expected that all current team members will have an opportunity to be a part of the combined airline.”
JetBlue this week was a little less specific. In a conference call with analysts and media, CEO Robin Hayes said the airline wants Spirit for its people and planes, and would evaluate the talents and capabilities of Spirit employees. He said the addition of Spirit would provide a “deeper bench of intellectual capital.”
“We know that cultural integration with be the key to our success,” he said.
South Florida facilities
The two suitors indicated they valued the existing facilities Spirit maintains in Florida.
The most notable in South Florida is a new headquarters under construction at Dania Pointe in Dania Beach, which is a short distance to the south of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Spirit, which has maintained its headquarters in a sprawling office complex in Miramar, broke ground on the Dania project in 2020, and scaled it back slightly a year later. The idea was to relocate up to 1,000 workers to Dania and add 225 more. Besides administration and operations, the site was to be used for crew training as well as for employee residences.
In February, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance pledged to meet with Frontier’s top executives to persuade them to base the newly combined airline in Dania Beach. Bob Swindell, the alliance president and CEO, said he could not discuss any formal conversations due to non-disclosure agreements.
But he did say the alliance is monitoring the merger situation.
“Spirit and JetBlue are both valued members of the alliance, major employers, and outstanding corporate citizens,” he said in an emailed statement Thursday. “Their presence here underscores the importance of Greater Fort Lauderdale as a headquarters location and a leader in the aviation industry.”
But neither suitor is sold on taking Spirit’s place as South Florida’s hometown airline.
As implied by the proposed stock ownership and board of directors makeup, the headquarters of a combined Frontier-Spirit airline would be in Denver, as Frontier would be in majority control of both.
As for JetBlue, Hayes made it clear this week that his airline would remain headquartered in New York and continue to fly under the JetBlue banner.
Travelers and price points
Who has the lowest prices of them all?
It looks like Spirit. A snapshot Thursday of Expedia listed round-trip prices on June 7 from New York area airports to Fort Lauderdale, shows fares starting at $86 aboard Spirit, $152 aboard JetBlue and legacy carrier Delta Air Lines and $215 aboard American Airlines.
With Spirit out of the picture as a free-standing discount carrier devoted to leisure travelers, some industry analysts surmised that travelers would have fewer choices to fly cheaply into tourism destinations such as Fort Lauderdale and neighboring Miami and West Palm Beach.
When JetBlue announced its offer, Frontier, whose low-cost business model, a basic ticket that covers your flight and a personal item with added fees for anything else, is akin to Spirit’s, took to the offensive. It argued that the New York carrier is anything but a discounter.
“Unlike the compelling Spirit-Frontier combination, an acquisition of Spirit by JetBlue, a high-fare carrier, would lead to more expensive travel for consumers,” Frontier said in a statement.
Hayes countered that JetBlue compels larger competing airlines to lower their fares wherever JetBlue planes land.
“When JetBlue flies into a legacy market we are not ignored,” he said. “We bring prices down across the board.” He also asserted that fares fall more frequently than when the “ultra-discount” carriers (meaning Frontier and Spirit) arrive on the scene.
But Nick Ewen, senior editor of The Points Guy, the airline rewards website, has his doubts.
“If JetBlue ends up being the carrier that acquires Spirit I would expect them to go more to the full service side, which would increase costs to the consumer,” he said.
“It depends on the customers themselves—the leisure travelers who are more price conscious ― that most likely would be a loss for them.”
