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South Florida leaders lobby for Spirit and Frontier to grow together here

Broward-based Spirit is joining Denver’s Frontier, raising questions about the future

DANIA BEACH, Fla. – With the merger in motion, South Florida-based Spirit Airlines and Denver-based Frontier say they want to combine, and local leaders want in.

“We’re prepared to fly out on a Spirit airline to Denver to meet with Barry Biffle, the CEO of Frontier,” said David Coddington of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance.

Coddington’s team has already gotten to work after news broke of the airline deal Monday, coming up with a plan to convince the companies to merge and grow here in South Florida.

Spirit, based in Miramar, has already broken ground on a new headquarters in the heart of Dania Beach.

“The new piece for them — and what we can hopefully do with Frontier — is have corporate housing, training and the HQ all in one spot,” Coddington said.

Said Broward County Mayor Michael Udine: “We always want to make sure that we’re not losing, you know, valuable corporate headquarters and companies that are here, so if there’s an opportunity to speak out to some of the leadership there, I think we want to be front and center.”

Questions linger with this merger, which still must meet federal approval. Frontier has more control, so what will the newly formed company fly under? Where will it set up?

Spirit reps tell Local 10 News that the headquarters and training facility will still be built.

Local leaders across Broward County want to convince corporate leaders that South Florida is the place for what may now become the nation’s fifth-largest airline.

“It behooves both corporations to realize how important it is to maintain a strong presence here in South Florida,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said.

Said Coddington: “The amount of flights, the opportunity to grow further into Central American and the Caribbean and South America is a tremendous asset for both companies as they work together.”

And Udine added: “We have a highly educated workforce. We have employees ready to go.”


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