Frontier and Spirit Airlines will once again try to merge, only months after the Biden administration won a key antitrust court battle to block an attempt by JetBlue to buy Spirit.

A combination of the two ultra-low-cost carriers would produce the country’s fifth largest airline, behind American, Delta, United and Southwest.

It could also provide a financial lifeline to Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy in November and has more than $7 billion in debt.

Spirit’s leadership has already rejected Frontier’s merger offer, which would bring the companies  together through a combination of new stock offerings and new debt.

But Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said the merger would improve service.

“As a combined airline, we would be positioned to offer more options and deeper savings, as well as an enhanced travel experience with more reliable service,” he said.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased for the second week in a row, but remains just below 7%, little relief for prospective home shoppers looking ahead to the spring homebuying season.

The rate fell to 6.95% from 6.96% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, it averaged 6.63%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate dropped to 6.12% from 6.16% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.94%, Freddie Mac said.

“Driven by these higher rates and a persistent supply shortage, affordability hurdles still exist for many homebuyers and a significant number of them remain on the sidelines,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.