The Observer wants to hear from readers. Do you have a favorite budget airline?
More than 15 airlines offer flights in and out of the Charlotte region. But travelers may have fewer airline choices soon, after two of the low-cost airlines serving Charlotte Douglas International Airport announced plans to merge in a $6.6 billion agreement.
Those airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier, haven’t said what the merger will mean for Charlotte customers. The two low-cost airlines offer competing routes out of CLT to Orlando and Las Vegas.
Frontier also offers flights to Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Denver out of CLT, and Spirit also offers flights to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The airlines said the merger plans were a key move in a strategy to “compete even more aggressively” with large airlines including American Airlines, the dominant carrier at Charlotte Douglas. American Airlines operates about 90% of all flights from CLT.
And another local airport, Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, offers commercial flights through low-cost Allegiant Airlines.
Now, the Observer wants to hear from you. Do you prefer to fly with low-cost airlines? And what are your best air travel tips for flying out of the Charlotte region?
The poll will close March 2 at 11:59 p.m.
This is not a scientific poll.
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Hannah Smoot covers business in Charlotte, focusing on health care, aviation and sports business. She has been covering COVID-19 in North Carolina since March 2020. She previously covered money and power at The Rock Hill Herald in South Carolina and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
