Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines — announced Monday they will merge to form the nation’s fifth largest carrier.
Frontier is buying Spirit Airlines in a $2.9 billion cash-and-stock deal.
The companies said Monday that the transaction will provide more low-cost fares for more travelers to destinations in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Frontier Group Holdings Inc. and Spirit Airlines Inc. also anticipate $1 billion in annual consumer savings and are looking to expand their services with more than 350 aircraft on order.
In addition, Frontier and Spirit are looking to add more jobs. The companies foresee adding 10,000 direct jobs and thousands of additional jobs at their business partners by 2026.
Spirit flies out Atlantic City International Airport and Frontier offers flights out of Trenton-Mercer Airport. Both also fly out of Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year. It still needs approval from Spirit shareholders.
In January, Spirit announced it will add non-stop flights to Boston from Atlantic City International Airport starting May 26. The move comes about three months after Spirit expanded non-stop services to Cancun, Miami and San Juan.
