Frontier and Spirit Airlines will once again try to merge, only months after the Biden administration won a key antitrust court battle to block

Frontier Airlines is attempting for a second time to merge with the now bankrupt Spirit Airlines, which declared bankruptcy late last year as budget airlines struggle.

Budget carrier Frontier Airlines announced on Wednesday that it has made another bid for fellow discount carrier Spirit Airlines, which is in bankruptcy, for an undisclosed sum.

Frontier is making an offer to acquire the beleaguered Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in November.

Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2024, six months after a proposed merger with JetBlue collapsed.

Frontier Airlines is making another offer to merge with bankrupt Spirit Airlines, less than two years after a previous plan fell through.

No-frills, budget airlines often lead the industry in customer complaints, according to government data, so if one were to disappear would it be missed by travelers?

Rather than accept Frontier’s offer, Spirit said it will stick to its current plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The last deadly major crash involving a commercial airliner in the U.S. was in 2009, when 49 people — 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants — aboard a Colgan Air flight crashed in New York state. One person also died on the ground.

Frontier Airlines took another swing at joining forces with Spirit Airlines. In a statement on Wednesday, Jan. 29, Frontier officials say a merger would allow Spirit to escape from bankruptcy. Spirit is not interested and rejected the offer saying it was too low.

Spirit, which is working to emerge from bankruptcy, said it has rejected Frontier’s third takeover bid over concerns about the timing and price.