The Secondary Leisure Markets Frontier Airlines Chose Over Backfilling Spirit’s Vacated Fort Lauderdale Hub

The revealing story in Frontier Airlines’ post-Spirit Airlines expansion is not that the low-cost carrier is grabbing its failed rival’s scraps, but that it is quietly choosing where not to compete. While Spirit Airlines’ May 2026 collapse created an obvious opening at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), its former primary hub, Frontier Airlines has instead directed much of its growth toward smaller leisure markets.