Republic Airways Signs Term Sheet to Sell Frontier Airlines

Republic Airways reached a nonbinding agreement with an unnamed third party to sell ultra low cost carrier Frontier Airlines, CEO Bryan Bedford said today.

Bedford said Republic signed an exclusive, nonbinding term sheet with a third party, and closing of the deal, which could come in the third quarter, hinges on some other third-party agreements beyond Republic's control.

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Since the exclusivity period for the potential buyer runs past Republic's scheduled shareholder meeting on August 13, Republic has decided to push the meeting into September, Bedford said.

Speaking during Republic's second quarter earnings call, Bedford said the airline would be making no further comments at this time about the Frontier sale.

Bedford noted that Republic has made it an overriding goal to sell Frontier in 2013, and plans to discuss the matter with shareholders in September. He added that Republic is not putting the resources into Frontier to take it to the next level.

If the sale does not go through, then management will discuss with shareholders "where we go from there," Bedford said.

Republic has been cutting Frontier's capacity, and Frontier's available seat miles were down 10.1 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared with the year-ago quarter.

Frontier's pre-tax income in the quarter was basically flat, $13.7 million in the second quarter compared with $14.1 million in the second quarter of 2012.