At U.S. airports, there’s blood in the (TSA-approved 3.4 ounces of) water.
Two weeks ago, no-frills Spirit Airlines announced in a financial report that, given the terrible state of the U.S. economy and weakened bookings, “there is substantial doubt as to the Company’s ability to continue.”
That was all it took to signal a predator.
Frontier Airlines tried several times in recent years to merge with Spirit. Frontier couldn’t close the deal. Now it’s going in for the kill instead.
Making a savage play to poach Spirit’s customers, many of whom might suddenly be nervous about booking a flight on the troubled carrier, Frontier is launching 20 new routes, most of which directly target Spirit’s hubs.
And Frontier is doing this with introductory prices as low as $29 each way. Most of the sale fares are $29 to $49 each way.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will get new Frontier flights to and from Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, and Houston.
But that’s not the end of it. Baltimore gets flights to and from Cancún, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, and New Orleans.
Detroit gains Cancún, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Miami, and New Orleans.
And Houston will get coverage to Fort Lauderdale; Guatemala City, Guatemala; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and New Orleans.
Only two new Frontier routes—Houston to Philadelphia and Houston to San Salvador, El Salvador—don’t duplicate what Spirit already has.
For Frontier’s full list of the added routes, click here. Most of the flights will take off two or three times a week or once weekly; none of the added flights will be daily.
It turns out that about one in three of Spirit’s routes are already duplicated by Frontier, placing Frontier in a position to inflict real damage on its rival’s customer base.
There are a few caveats to those $29 fares, though.
Frontier, like Spirit, charges passengers for every little thing, so very few customers will actually see Frontier’s low introductory prices as the final fare after ponying up for checked baggage, seat assignments, and so on.
It’s also extremely likely that the cheapest rates will go away when and if Spirit is finally vanquished. Multiple airlines on the same route yield competitive prices, but once that competition becomes a monopoly prices usually go higher again.
So if you accept one of Frontier’s low, stick-it-to-Spirit airfares, you’re probably helping to seal Frontier’s power to charge higher fares later on.
The biggest caveat to these promotional fares, which are valid for both one-way flights and round trips, is that they won’t be available after Monday, September 1.
Sale fares are valid for travel from October 20 through January 5, 2026, but there are travel blackouts from November 23–30; December 1, and 21–31; and January 1–2, 2026.
Flights to and from New Orleans aren’t included in the sale (sorry) because they won’t be available for purchase until September 2, after the deal ends.
All this doesn’t mean Frontier’s financial future is without blemish, either. Spirit lost $245.8 million in the second quarter of this year—while Frontier lost $70 million.
