News of a pending merger between low-cost airlines Spirit and Frontier is being welcomed at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, where Spirit is the sole commercial carrier.

Officials at Pittsburgh International Airport, where both airlines offer flights, also were optimistic.

“We think this is a fantastic opportunity for two great companies to merge into a stronger player in the low-cost market,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmore­land County Airport Authority, which operates the Arnold Palmer airport in Unity. “We see the chance to meld into a larger system as a great boost in our capabilities.”

“We look forward to continued growth as Frontier and Spirit successfully move forward together,” said Bryan Dietz, senior vice president for air service and commercial development with the Allegheny County Airport Authority. “We are in touch with both management teams and will continue to follow the agreement closely.

“We anticipate changes in the industry as we have been through multiple mergers and industry changes before. We are always committed to supporting the goals of the airline to meet the air service needs of this community.”

The merger, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, would see Frontier Airlines’ parent company purchase Spirit in a $2.9 billion cash-and-stock deal. It still needs approval from Spirit shareholders.

Monzo called Frontier “a first-rate company. I think we’ll be in a good position with them.”

While the branding of the merged company and the effect on specific routes are among details still to be determined, Monzo said he anticipates the airport will continue a relationship with the successor carrier.

“I have no reason to think it’s going to change,” he said.

Spirit has provided commercial flights at the Westmoreland County airport since February 2011, serving more than 2.6 million passengers there since then. That included 309,817 in 2019, the last full year before the covid-19 pandemic curtailed travel, and 243,440 in 2021.

Based in Miramar, Fla., Spirit provides routes from Latrobe to several cities in Florida and to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The authority recently completed a multi-year project of widening and strengthening the Palmer runway to improve safety and with an eye toward supporting more frequent flights.

Monzo noted Frontier has Airbus planes in its fleet comparable in size to the Spirit aircraft that are serving the Unity airport.

More than 350 aircraft that are on order will help boost the combined companies’ operations, according to a joint statement.

Other touted benefits of the merger include new routes to underserved communities in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, operational efficiencies and expanded frequent flyer and membership offerings.

The companies say their merger will result in $1 billion in annual savings for consumers and 10,000 new jobs by 2026.

“This combination is all about growth, opportunities and creating value for everyone,” said Mac Gardner, Spirit board chairman, in a statement. “We’re a perfect fit – our businesses share similar values, including our longstanding commitment to affordable travel. At the same time, we have complementary footprints and fleets.”

Just one destination — Orlando — is duplicated among the Spirit and Frontier flights available from Pittsburgh International in Findlay Township.

Frontier, which began service at Pittsburgh International in 2016, also flies passengers to its home base in Denver. Spirit flights, which began at Pittsburgh in 2017, also head to Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Cancun, Mexico; Myrtle Beach; and additional Florida cities: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Tampa.

In 2021, Spirit carried just under 10% of all passenger traffic at Pittsburgh while Frontier accounted for 0.7%, according to the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

Ben Baldanza, who served as Spirit CEO from 2005-16, noted in a December article in Forbes that Frontier adopted the same “ultra-low-cost” label that had been coined by Spirit. Bill Franke, an investor in Spirit along with his Indigo Partners team, sold out of the airline to buy Frontier, Baldanza noted.

Although Frontier moved to compete directly with Spirit in its major Fort Lauderdale hub, Baldanza wrote that, “For most of the last 10 years, Spirit and Frontier have both grown aggressively, but largely without encroaching on the other.”

Prior to news of the merger, he wrote that Frontier was overtaking Spirit as the leading ultra-low-cost carrier in the United States, with “lower costs and a more aggressive focus on cost control,” while adding that “there is still plenty of room for low-cost capacity in the country.”

Baldanza on Monday told the Tribune-Review that he couldn’t provide a comment about the merger.

As of Monday, a standard round-trip flight for one passenger from Pittsburgh to Orlando on Valentine’s Day and returning that Friday was $336.96 on Frontier and $180.58 on Spirit, including charges for seat selection and one checked bag. Flight information was for booking directly through each airline’s website.

The merger would result in Frontier shareholders owning 51.5% of the new company while existing Spirit stockholders would own approximately 48.5%.

The combined Frontier-Spirit management team and headquarters are yet to be determined. Seven members of the combined board of directors will be named by Frontier, and five by Spirit.

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