Less than two weeks after Spirit Airlines went kaput, another budget airline is no more. Well, kind of.
Minnesota's own Sun Country Airlines has officially been acquired by Allegiant Air. That $1.5 billion takeover transaction closed Wednesday, just five months after the pair of low-cost carriers announced the surprising (yet also not-so-surprising) merger.
In the short term, it's business as usual for both airlines. Sun Country's planes will keep flying, its crews are still working, its website is still running … as well as it ever has, I guess.
But over time, everything will be pulled under Allegiant's umbrella. It may take years, but that's the plan. Allegiant gets its planes, crews, and gates … and Sun Country gets to disappear.
In the end, two airlines are becoming one. And in our experience, that's rarely a win for consumers.
Focusing on our own backyard here in Minnesota is where we're most concerned.
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Sun Country hasn't always been the most popular airline around these parts, to put it mildly.
Not since it abandoned its roots as a longtime beloved hometown airline to a low-cost carrier with higher fees, and definitely not since it abandoned hundreds of passengers down in Mexico back in 2018. If I had a dollar for every time a Minnesotan griped to me about that episode …
But Sun Country emerged as a rare success story in the otherwise brutal budget airline industry. Ferrying winter-weary Minnesotans south, schlepping professional sports teams across the country, and carrying cargo for Amazon didn't just set it apart – it made it one of the most financially stable airlines in the country. That's no small feat.
Most importantly, it challenged Delta's dominance in Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) – and you need only ask Minnesotans how they feel about Delta's ticket prices lately to understand how important that is. Just like Spirit (RIP), Sun Country's lower fares forced Delta to compete on price.
That's what's at stake as Allegiant swallows Sun Country.
To be clear, Allegiant has vowed it will maintain a significant presence in Minneapolis as it slowly brings Sun Country into the fold. But that's today.
What if, a year or three from now, Allegiant decides to give up the fight against Delta and instead flies those planes between Las Vegas or southern Florida and other, smaller airports?
Sun Country has relished its role as a scrappy (and cheaper) alternative to Delta. Allegiant's entire identity is built around avoiding competition altogether. Case in point: After a four-year run, Allegiant exited Minneapolis entirely just last year.
The long history of mergers and acquisitions in this crazy industry has shown that there's almost always another shoe to drop.
We'll be watching closely.
