Release #: FFT 22.01
July 27, 2022

Frontier Pilots’ Statement on Spirit Airlines Terminated Merger Agreement with Frontier


DENVER, Colo.—Capt. Alan Christie, chair of the Frontier Airlines Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), issued the following statement today after Spirit Airlines terminated a proposed merger agreement with Frontier Airlines:

“Now that Spirit Airlines has terminated the Frontier merger agreement, we hope that Frontier management will put aside its merger distraction and invest the same amount of resources and focus to improving conditions at their own airline. A standalone Frontier will not be competitive with a merged competitor until Frontier senior management makes a serious effort to improve relations with labor and understands the importance of a constructive and cooperative relationship with the pilot work force.  

“Unfortunately, that isn’t the case right now. Over just the past year, Frontier management has engaged in wholesale and repeated contract violations that are now being litigated in the arbitration process, and they have failed to engage promptly and meaningfully in dispute resolution as required by the Railway Labor Act.

“Frontier managers have ignored numerous systemic organizational and operational problems. Their lax record-keeping has resulted in the mass de-qualification of already trained pilots, and they’ve squandered resources by training and then losing qualified pilots to other airlines. Frontier management even summoned 44 pilots to the Denver corporate office earlier this year in a failed attempt to fire them for calling in sick during the COVID pandemic. Other similarly counterproductive management measures are routine, and record pilot attrition is the result.

“Other airlines clearly understand that the hiring market is robust, and pilots have multiple choices regarding where they will work. Frontier’s potential as the nation’s largest ultra-low-cost carrier won’t be realized without focusing resources on a respectful, collaborative partnership with its pilots. This toxic and punitive management culture must be replaced with constructive problem-solving and good-faith negotiations to attract new pilots and stem our record attrition rate. We need to make Frontier a great place to work. Until then, Frontier’s aggressive expansion plans will not be realized. 

“As always, the Association remains ready to engage with senior management when they commit to those principles. The roadmap to that relationship, and a more successful future, is clear.” 

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 65,000 pilots at 40 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.

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CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org