Republic Beats Southwest to Buy Bankrupt Frontier Air

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Bloomberg

By Tiffany Kary and Mary Schlangenstein

-- Republic Airways Holdings Inc. won a bankruptcy court auction to buy Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc., bidding $108.8 million to beat Southwest Airlines Co.

Republic also agreed to waive any right to recovery on a $150 million pre-petition unsecured claim, the carrier said today in a statement. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in New York and regulators have yet to review the sale. Southwest bid $170 million Aug. 10.

“I look forward to welcoming Frontier to our Republic family,” Bryan Bedford, Republic’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Based on passenger traffic, Indianapolis-based Republic was the 11th-largest U.S. carrier last year, while Denver-based Frontier was 13th and Dallas-based Southwest was fifth, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a74C6aCSa0Qc

[hlthe2b]

1. Damn....

I was hoping SW would buy it.... Actually, I was hoping Frontier wouldn't go bankrupt at all, but....

[babylonsister]

2. How did Republic win with their bid vs. Southwest's? I'm confused, and

have friends who work for Frontier. Their future depends on who buys them out.

$170 vs. 108?

I heard SW won this, so am curious.

[Sub Atomic]

3. Outstanding!!!

The train of thought regarding Southwest picking up Frontier is that they would raise their fares across the country. Currently, Southwest has raised their fares everywhere except into/out of DIA.

With Republic coming out on top, there's a better than even chance that the Frontier employees in Colorado will ALL keep their jobs.

:bounce:

[El Supremo]

4. Good!

This would have killed Frontier's routes to Texas. Southwest can't go directly to Texas from Denver.