By DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer
DALLAS (AP) — Barry Biffle is juggling his day job as CEO of Frontier Airlines while also working to save a proposed merger with Spirit Airlines that would create the nation’s fifth-biggest carrier by some measures.
This figures to be a bounce-back year for airlines like Frontier that cater to leisure travelers. After two years of hunkering down during the pandemic, more people are flying.
Biffle says the recovery in travel will enable his Denver-based airline to return to profitability this summer. And he’s puzzled by doubters, including investors who are shorting the stock — betting that the shares will fall in price.
On the merger, Biffle says Frontier and Spirit are answering regulators’ questions, and he is not alarmed that several liberals in Congress are urging the Biden administration to take a close look at whether the deal will hurt consumers.
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The bigger obstacle to a Frontier-Spirit deal is JetBlue Airways, which made its own $3.6 billion bid for Spirit last week. JetBlue’s offer is higher than Frontier’s $2.9 billion bid, which was announced in February.
Frontier declined to make Biffle available after the JetBlue announcement. In an interview days earlier, Biffle discussed regulatory review of the Frontier-Spirit merger proposal, travel demand and other topics with The Associated Press. The answers have been edited for length.
Q. Where is travel demand now?
A. We have gone from possibly the worst revenue period at the beginning of Q1, in January and February, to one of the best sales periods. Fare levels and total revenue per passenger in the early March time frame exceeded 2019 levels — over $120 per passenger. COVID has held everyone back, but eventually after two years, it would appear people are ready to get back to their lives.
Q. Why do you think that’s happening?
A. We have been talking a lot about the bad side of inflation; this inflation is driven by higher incomes. We have never seen…