Frontier Airlines is exploring a revived bid for Spirit Airlines Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported. The budget carriers recently held talks, though discussions are at an early stage and may not lead to a deal, the WSJ said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

For the past eight years, in fact, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have been the will-they-or-won’t-they couple of the airline industry, having repeated merger discussions

KEY TAKEAWAYS Spirit Airlines shares are surging in premarket trading Wednesday on a report that Frontier Airlines parent Frontier Group Holdings is in the early stages of a renewed bid for its rival discount carrier.