Business Updates: Frontier and Spirit Airlines Announce Plans to Merge

When Frontier went public last spring, the airline said it stood out among budget carriers. Spirit serves more-crowded markets and Allegiant Air serves less-crowded ones, but Frontier is more evenly distributed, it said at the time.

The combined airline would fly mostly within the United States, but also to destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Spirit operates three times as many international flights as Frontier, according to Cirium, an aviation data provider.

The companies say the merger will benefit consumers, allowing them to sell cheaper tickets and offer better service. In November, the average price of a domestic ticket sold by Spirit was $109, before taxes and fees, compared with $73 for Frontier.

The merger could face pushback from the Biden administration, which has increasingly challenged such deals in court, arguing that they reduce competition and raise prices. In the fall, the Justice Department sued to prevent a domestic alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways. As it stands, the nation’s four largest airlines collectively control about 80 percent of the domestic air market.

Shares in Spirit jumped in premarket trading, though they remained below Frontier’s bid of $25.83 per share, implying some skepticism that the transaction will go through.

That said, shares in other airlines were up on the news, which is not usually how shares of competitors react to the potential entry of a “disruptive” new challenger. It’s another sign that Frontier and Spirit could face a challenge in convincing regulators that their merger would actually lead to stiffer competition and lower prices.

The combined airline would have annual revenue of approximately $5.3 billion based on 2021 results, the announcement said.

Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.

Under federal procurement law, the government generally cannot deny contracts to companies it deems hostile to labor unions. But it may be able to consider a company’s posture toward unions as a factor in certain narrow cases — for example, when labor strife resulting from an aggressive anti-union campaign could substantially delay the provision of some important good or service.

The executive order Mr. Biden signed creating the task force required it to submit recommendations within 180 days, at which point the president would review them.

One key premise of the task force was that the National Labor Relations Act, the 1935 law that protects federal labor rights, explicitly encourage collective bargaining, and yet, according to the Biden White House, no previous administration had explored ways that the executive branch could do so systematically.

The ambition of the task force was twofold: to enact policies for federal agencies and contractors that encourage unionization and to model best practices for employers in the public and private sectors.

The president’s task force will submit a second report describing progress on its recommendations and proposing additional ones in six months.

Union officials and labor experts consider Mr. Biden to be among the most pro-labor presidents ever. He moved quickly to oust Trump appointees viewed as unsympathetic to labor and to undo Trump-era rules that weakened protections for workers, and signed legislation that secured tens of billions of dollars to stabilize union pension plans.

Mr. Biden has occasionally used his bully pulpit to urge employers not to undermine workers’ labor rights or bargaining positions, as when he warned against coercing workers who were weighing unionizing during a prominent union election at Amazon last year. He later called Kellogg’s plan to permanently replace striking workers “an existential attack” on its union members.

Last week, Mr. Biden signed an executive order requiring so-called project labor agreements — agreements between construction unions and contractors that set wages and working conditions — on federal construction projects worth more than $35 million, a move that the White House estimates could affect nearly 200,000 workers. He had previously signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour from $10.95.

But despite Mr. Biden’s backing, and polls showing widespread public support for unions, the rate of union membership nationwide remains stuck at a mere 10 percent, its lowest in decades.

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, which Mr. Biden supports, would make it easier to unionize by preventing companies from holding mandatory anti-union meetings and imposing financial penalties on employers that retaliate against workers seeking to unionize. It passed the House in March but remains a long shot in the Senate. Democrats may seek to pass some of its provisions along party lines this year.

• Consumer Price Index: The latest report on inflation from the Labor Department is expected to show that consumer prices kept climbing in January, in part because of continued supply chain disruptions. Economists expect prices rose about 7.3 percent from a year earlier, giving the Federal Reserve more incentive to raise interest rates several times this year as it tries to get inflation under control by slowing growth.

• Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Kellogg earnings: Three food giants will provide details on how supply chain bottlenecks during the last three months of 2021 affected profits. Several companies, including Procter & Gamble and Nestlé, have already announced that they will raise prices to offset higher costs.

• Twitter earnings: After Meta’s disappointing quarterly earnings report, investors will find out how Twitter’s ad business fared at the end of last year. Social media companies are grappling with an update by Apple that made it harder for apps to track iPhone users’ digital habits, affecting the ability of social networks to target ads.

Friday

• Consumer sentiment: The University of Michigan will publish preliminary results for its consumer sentiment index, which measures how Americans feel about the economy. January’s numbers showed that consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since November 2011 as inflation continued to rise. The Federal Reserve watches the report as a measure of inflation expectations.

In data recorded last week and to be released Tuesday, said Amir Eylon, president and chief executive of Longwoods International, 31 percent of respondents reported that the pandemic is no longer influencing their decision to travel.

This comes after domestic leisure travel had a strong year in 2021, rebounding well after extraordinary losses in 2020, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the United States.

But in the United States, some experts say a shift in mind-set — however desired — is premature. The Omicron surge has begun to level off in some states, but case numbers and hospitalizations remain extremely high across the country.

But many Americans who are looking to book international travel this year are worried less about the virus itself and more about the prospect of getting stuck overseas, with a positive test result prohibiting them from flying back to the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also issued its highest level four “do not travel” warning for many popular destinations abroad, sparking hesitation among some consumers.

Last month, the administration unveiled a website where Americans could order four free at-home tests per household through the Postal Service. The White House said that it had already mailed out tens of millions of tests. But the delivery schedule has been patchy, with some receiving their tests right away while others are still waiting.

In the latest federal effort to deliver more rapid tests, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said this week that Medicare, which covers roughly 60 million Americans, would provide free kits beginning in “early spring.”

Enrollees, most of whom are 65 or older, will be able to get up to eight tests per month, the same number covered for privately insured Americans as part of new requirements announced in January.

While the Omicron-driven surge may be showing signs of waning in many parts of the country, the tests could help Medicare recipients, some of the most vulnerable Americans, in possible future surges.

At the urging of the federal government, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech applied last week for authorization for two doses of its vaccine to children 4 and younger.

But results released in December did not show the hoped-for immune response in children ages 2 to 4. Children 6 months to 2 years old showed a comparable response to that of older teenagers and young adults.

The disappointing finding has led the companies to test a third shot in young children, but those results will not available for a few weeks. Still, in hopes of getting a jump start on the vaccination effort, the F.D.A. urged the companies to apply for authorization of two doses while everyone awaits data on the third dose.

The thinking is that if two doses are authorized and given, then children would be prepared for a third dose if and when research demonstrates that three shots prove fully effective.

That three doses will work is the working presumption of Pfizer and of some experts. Critics have argued that this strategy is short-circuiting the research process and that there is not yet clear evidence that a third dose will be make up for the inadequacies of two doses.

The full data on the trials have not been made public. But one person familiar with Pfizer’s research, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The New York Times recently that children 6 months to 2 years old who received two doses became infected at a 50 percent lower rate than a placebo group, while children 2 to 4 years old became infected at a 57 percent lower rate.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, said last week said no corners would be cut with Pfizer’s application for emergency authorization of the vaccine in young children. The application, he said, would “undergo the same independent, rigorous and transparent review process” that was used to clear the vaccine for adults. He also cited the role of the Omicron surge and its impact on children.

“Whether that changes the risk-benefit profile is what the F.D.A. will be assessing,” Dr. Murthy said. “But there has been developments since December on the data front.”

Note: Data is shown by the date in Beijing when a case was announced, and it includes athletes, team officials and other staff members and stakeholders. Those who have tested positive before their departure to the Games are not included in the chart above.

Athletes Who Have Tested Positive for the Coronavirus

This table includes athletes who tested positive before traveling to China. Some athletes who have tested positive have not been publicly identified, and some who test positive can be cleared later to participate in the Games.

Feb. 3	Casey Dawson United States	Speedskating	United States	Before arriving
	Cestmir Kozisek Czech Republic	Ski jumping	Czech Republic	In China
	David Krejci Czech Republic	Ice hockey	Czech Republic	In China
	Viktor Polasek Czech Republic	Ski jumping	Czech Republic	In China
	Jarl Magnus Riiber Norway	Nordic combined	Norway	In China
	Ivan Shmuratko Ukraine	Figure skating	Ukraine	In China
Feb. 2	Matthias Asperup Denmark	Ice hockey	Denmark	In China
	Olena Bilosiuk Ukraine	Biathlon	Ukraine	In China
	Nick Olesen Denmark	Ice hockey	Denmark	In China
	Nolan Seegert Germany	Figure skating	Germany	In China
Feb. 1	Elana Meyers Taylor United States	Bobsled	United States	In China
Jan. 31	Audrey King Hong Kong	Alpine skiing	Hong Kong	In China
Jan. 29	Tahli Gill Australia	Curling	Australia	In China
	Marita Kramer Austria	Ski jumping	Austria	Before arriving
Jan. 28	Natalia Czerwonka Poland	Speedskating	Poland	In China
	Magdalena Czyszczon Poland	Speedskating	Poland	In China
	Marek Kania Poland	Speedskating	Poland	In China
	Zan Kosir Slovenia	Snowboard	Slovenia	In China
Jan. 26	Anne Kjersti Kalva Norway	Cross-country skiing	Norway	Before arriving
	Vasily Kondratenko Russian Olympic Committee	Bobsled	Russian Olympic Committee	Before arriving
	Sinja Leemann Switzerland	Ice hockey	Switzerland	Before arriving
	Alina Müller Switzerland	Ice hockey	Switzerland	Before arriving
	Aleksei Pushkarev Russian Olympic Committee	Bobsled	Russian Olympic Committee	Before arriving
	Heidi Weng Norway	Cross-country skiing	Norway	Before arriving
	Josh Williamson United States	Bobsled	United States	Before arriving
Jan. 25	Mikhail Kolyada Russian Olympic Committee	Figure skating	Russian Olympic Committee	Before arriving
	Nikita Tregubov Russian Olympic Committee	Skeleton	Russian Olympic Committee	Before arriving
	Adam Vaclavik Czech Republic	Biathlon	Czech Republic	Before arriving
	Alex Varnyu Hungary	Short-track speedskating	Hungary	Before arriving
Jan. 24	Shaoang Liu Hungary	Short-track speedskating	Hungary	Before arriving
Jan. 22	Andreas Wellinger Germany	Ski Jumping	Germany	Before arriving
Jan. 7	Alysa Liu United States	Figure skating	United States	Before arriving
	Shaun White United States	Snowboard	United States	Before arriving
Dec. 20	Alice Robinson New Zealand	Alpine skiing	New Zealand	Before arriving