Frontier Airlines, Inc., is an American airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The carrier, which is a subsidiary and operating brand of Republic Airways Holdings, operates flights to 83 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica[1] and maintains hubs at Denver International Airport, Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport, Kansas City International Airport, and Omaha's Eppley Airfield. It provides regional service to the surrounding Rocky Mountain States through a code-share agreement with Great Lakes Airlines. Frontier is not a member of an air carrier alliance.
We are a low fare airline that provides service from our Denver hub to over 80 destinations in the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico. We are the second largest jet carrier of Denver International Airport (DIA) with more than 550 daily system-wide departures and arrivals. Service features include advanced seat assignments, electronic ticketing, curbside check-in, online check-in and EarlyReturns® mileage program. We currently operate a fleet of 41 Airbus A319s, four Airbus A318s, nine Airbus A320s, 15 Embraer E190s, and 17 Embraer E170s. Additionally, our regional partners operate six Embraer E145s, six Embraer E135s, and four Q400s as Frontier Express.
We commenced operations on July 5, 1994, taking advantage of three unique windows of opportunity:
A major airline's dramatic downsizing of its Denver operations, leaving service gaps in various major markets
The construction of Denver International Airport, which replaced Denver's heavily congested Stapleton Airport
The availability of several key executives from the former Frontier Airlines, who created a senior management team with long-term experience in the Denver market
low fares
We proudly offer all our seats at various discount fares and unlike most other airlines, our passengers aren't required to stay over a Saturday night to receive most of our low fares. We guarantee that customers won't find a lower Frontier fare anywhere outside of FrontierAirlines.com.
frequent flyer
We offer our own mileage program, EarlyReturns®, which features one of the fastest reward programs in the industry. EarlyReturns award redemptions include a free roundtrip flight anywhere on our domestic route system at just 25,000 miles. Members earn one mile for every mile flown with us, plus additional mileage with program partners including hotels, credit card and car rental agencies. The program also features two elite tier levels of benefits that include bonus mileage, priority boarding and free DIRECTV® service.
vacation packages
Frontier has teamed up with Ski.com to offer customers one-stop ski shopping through its Web site at FrontierAirlines.com or at FrontierSkiVacations.com. With Frontier Ski Vacations, customers can book the complete vacation package: flight, lodging, lift tickets and more, with just one visit to the airline's Web site.
We have a vacation package program called Frontier Vacations that we developed with Denver-based Neat Group. FlyAways are customized packages for the individual and include air/hotel, air/car or air/hotel/car combinations.
corporate business
We offer corporate rebate and discount programs to businesses. Small- and medium-sized businesses can receive online access through our website to corporate rebates, direct booking capabilities and reporting information about their company's travel and accounting history. More frequent business users are eligible for a corporate discount program.
a whole different animal
"A whole different animal" is more than a catchy tagline. It's a concept that uses one of our most recognizable features and ties it in with our ability to stand out from the rest. We approach our business with four key principles in mind: Affordable; Flexible; Accommodating; and Comfortable. These are the four "legs" we stand on. "A whole different animal" represents our commitment to do the little things that make a big difference to our customers.
partnerships
Frontier currently offers service to regional destinations under its codeshares with Great Lakes Airlines when connecting to or from a Frontier flight in Albuquerque, Billings, Denver, Las Vegas, or Phoenix.
The entry into Kansas City and St. Louis brought Frontier into direct competition--vigorous competition--with Trans World Airlines. In 1969, Frontier replaced its first five 727s with Boeing 737s. It also opened its combination headquarters and maintenance center in Denver. In spite of the optimistic additions, the airline failed to turn a profit in 1970. Al Feldman had assumed the company's leadership in 1971, and instituted a quick turnaround.
Frontier continued to offer new routes and set new records, serving its highest number of paying passengers in 1973 while receiving fewer complaints than any other regional airline. Its first international flight landed in Winnipeg in 1974. Four years later, Frontier crossed the border into Mexico.
A Dip in the 1980s
Although fuel costs rose and traffic fell, 1980 gave Frontier its highest profit to date: $23.2 million. The company had grown to employ 5,800 people and operated 60 aircraft, serving 86 cities. In 1982, the company phased out its turboprops and added the state-of-the-art McDonnell-Douglas MD-80. Reflecting its enormous strides, the company was reorganized, becoming a subsidiary of Frontier Holdings, Inc. on May 6, 1982.
A blizzard closed the Denver airport for two days around Christmas 1982, helping to smother the company's profits. After a terrific decade, Frontier lost about $45 million the next two years, placing the company in its most serious crisis.
After proposals to sell the company's shares to its employees and a bid by corporate raider Frank Lorenzo, People Express Airlines bought it in 1985. However, Frontier continued to falter and filed for bankruptcy in 1986. Its assets were sold off and many of its routes were taken over by Lorenzo's Continental Airlines.
The 1990s: A New Frontier
A $7.6 million initial public offering in May plus other venture capital funded the launch of a new Denver-based carrier in 1993. Unlike another new airline which had purchased the venerable name of a bankrupt carrier, Pan Am, at an auction, the new Frontier bore real resemblance to its former self. Its first CEO, Hank Lund, had been an executive at the original airline, and seven other former executives would join him. Samuel D. Addoms would become Frontier's CEO in January 1995. In addition, after digesting 5,000 resumes, the company filled 150 of 200 available slots with former Frontier employees.
On July 5, 1994, the reborn airline began flying between Denver and a handful of cities in North Dakota. Soon airports in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas again began receiving requests to land from jets with a name they had not heard in several years. Ironically, the carrier's old rival, Continental, helped provide space for Frontier when it scaled back its operations at the new $4 billion Denver International Airport. Frontier's rebirth had originally been conceived as a charter operation.
The company's early strategy paralleled that of the original: providing flights on underserved routes rather than striving for the low-prices of some of its contemporaries. However, just as with the original, price competition in major markets became part of Frontier's game plan.
United Airlines, which had more than a 70 percent market share at Denver International, refused to use the company for feeder flights. (United's employees had killed its bid for the old Frontier in the mid-1980s, protesting the absorption of Frontier employees.) Frontier's planes remained less than half full until late in 1995 when, like its predecessor, it began competing on a price basis in major markets. In fact, operations in its original eight markets were suspended so the planes could be deployed on higher volume routes. Eventually, Frontier would reach cooperative agreements with 65 airlines.
In September 1995, a secondary public offering brought in $7.3 million of needed capital. Additional stock worth $3 million had been sold in May.
Frontier's fleet was comprised of several used Boeing 737s, one of the industry's most reliable and most sought-after. The company's expansion plans were limited by the availability of these planes. Across the tail sections were plastered photographs of western wildlife, such as grazing bison, howling timberwolves, or fox kits. In 1996, Frontier opened a facility in Denver which allowed it to handle its own routine maintenance.
In 1997, Frontier accused "monopolist" United Airlines of dumping--intentionally operating a large number of flights in order to gain market share--and other antitrust violations. These were prompted, according to Frontier, by the company's second profitable quarter.
As a low-price Colorado airline, Western Pacific was often compared with the new Frontier. They both operated the Boeing 737; WestPac, based 100 miles south of Denver at Colorado Springs, operated 19, which would have made a combined fleet of 34 aircraft.
In June 1997, the two agreed to merge. However, the merger was called off at the end of September. Differences in culture and operating philosophy were cited as the prime factors. The next week, WestPac announced it was seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but planned to remain in the air. In spite of losses earlier in the year, Frontier seemed to be faring better, posting increases in summer traffic.
Besides meeting its ever-present needs for capital, future challenges for Frontier included retrofitting its fleet with hush kits (at $2 million per plane) to meet federal noise regulations; one runway at Denver International had already been closed to certain of its aircraft due to the airport's noise agreement with the city of Denver.
Although the reincarnated Frontier Airlines seemed to possess just a shadow of the original Frontier's might, Monarch Air Lines was small and struggling in its first few years as well. If the company could survive its confrontation with the world's largest airline, who knew what heights the new phoenix would reach?
Frontier Airlines, Inc. was reborn in 1993, borrowing the name of the carrier that had previously served the Rockies and Midwest for nearly 50 years. The name was not merely a superficial brand: several of the new Frontier's executives and 75 percent of its starting work force had been associated with the original carrier. Frontier operated about a dozen 737s, competing as a low-fare carrier on several high-volume routes.
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1946 as Monarch Air Lines
Employees: 800
Sales: $70.4 million (1996)
Stock Exchanges: NASDAQ
SICs: 4512 Air Transportation, Scheduled
Address:
12015 East 46th Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80239-3116
U.S.A.
We are a low fare airline that provides service from our Denver hub to over 80 destinations in the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico. We are the second largest jet carrier of Denver International Airport (DIA) with more than 550 daily system-wide departures and arrivals. Service features include advanced seat assignments, electronic ticketing, curbside check-in, online check-in and EarlyReturns® mileage program. We currently operate a fleet of 41 Airbus A319s, four Airbus A318s, nine Airbus A320s, 15 Embraer E190s, and 17 Embraer E170s. Additionally, our regional partners operate six Embraer E145s, six Embraer E135s, and four Q400s as Frontier Express.
We commenced operations on July 5, 1994, taking advantage of three unique windows of opportunity:
A major airline's dramatic downsizing of its Denver operations, leaving service gaps in various major markets
The construction of Denver International Airport, which replaced Denver's heavily congested Stapleton Airport
The availability of several key executives from the former Frontier Airlines, who created a senior management team with long-term experience in the Denver market
low fares
We proudly offer all our seats at various discount fares and unlike most other airlines, our passengers aren't required to stay over a Saturday night to receive most of our low fares. We guarantee that customers won't find a lower Frontier fare anywhere outside of FrontierAirlines.com.
frequent flyer
We offer our own mileage program, EarlyReturns®, which features one of the fastest reward programs in the industry. EarlyReturns award redemptions include a free roundtrip flight anywhere on our domestic route system at just 25,000 miles. Members earn one mile for every mile flown with us, plus additional mileage with program partners including hotels, credit card and car rental agencies. The program also features two elite tier levels of benefits that include bonus mileage, priority boarding and free DIRECTV® service.
vacation packages
Frontier has teamed up with Ski.com to offer customers one-stop ski shopping through its Web site at FrontierAirlines.com or at FrontierSkiVacations.com. With Frontier Ski Vacations, customers can book the complete vacation package: flight, lodging, lift tickets and more, with just one visit to the airline's Web site.
We have a vacation package program called Frontier Vacations that we developed with Denver-based Neat Group. FlyAways are customized packages for the individual and include air/hotel, air/car or air/hotel/car combinations.
corporate business
We offer corporate rebate and discount programs to businesses. Small- and medium-sized businesses can receive online access through our website to corporate rebates, direct booking capabilities and reporting information about their company's travel and accounting history. More frequent business users are eligible for a corporate discount program.
a whole different animal
"A whole different animal" is more than a catchy tagline. It's a concept that uses one of our most recognizable features and ties it in with our ability to stand out from the rest. We approach our business with four key principles in mind: Affordable; Flexible; Accommodating; and Comfortable. These are the four "legs" we stand on. "A whole different animal" represents our commitment to do the little things that make a big difference to our customers.
partnerships
Frontier currently offers service to regional destinations under its codeshares with Great Lakes Airlines when connecting to or from a Frontier flight in Albuquerque, Billings, Denver, Las Vegas, or Phoenix.
The entry into Kansas City and St. Louis brought Frontier into direct competition--vigorous competition--with Trans World Airlines. In 1969, Frontier replaced its first five 727s with Boeing 737s. It also opened its combination headquarters and maintenance center in Denver. In spite of the optimistic additions, the airline failed to turn a profit in 1970. Al Feldman had assumed the company's leadership in 1971, and instituted a quick turnaround.
Frontier continued to offer new routes and set new records, serving its highest number of paying passengers in 1973 while receiving fewer complaints than any other regional airline. Its first international flight landed in Winnipeg in 1974. Four years later, Frontier crossed the border into Mexico.
A Dip in the 1980s
Although fuel costs rose and traffic fell, 1980 gave Frontier its highest profit to date: $23.2 million. The company had grown to employ 5,800 people and operated 60 aircraft, serving 86 cities. In 1982, the company phased out its turboprops and added the state-of-the-art McDonnell-Douglas MD-80. Reflecting its enormous strides, the company was reorganized, becoming a subsidiary of Frontier Holdings, Inc. on May 6, 1982.
A blizzard closed the Denver airport for two days around Christmas 1982, helping to smother the company's profits. After a terrific decade, Frontier lost about $45 million the next two years, placing the company in its most serious crisis.
After proposals to sell the company's shares to its employees and a bid by corporate raider Frank Lorenzo, People Express Airlines bought it in 1985. However, Frontier continued to falter and filed for bankruptcy in 1986. Its assets were sold off and many of its routes were taken over by Lorenzo's Continental Airlines.
The 1990s: A New Frontier
A $7.6 million initial public offering in May plus other venture capital funded the launch of a new Denver-based carrier in 1993. Unlike another new airline which had purchased the venerable name of a bankrupt carrier, Pan Am, at an auction, the new Frontier bore real resemblance to its former self. Its first CEO, Hank Lund, had been an executive at the original airline, and seven other former executives would join him. Samuel D. Addoms would become Frontier's CEO in January 1995. In addition, after digesting 5,000 resumes, the company filled 150 of 200 available slots with former Frontier employees.
On July 5, 1994, the reborn airline began flying between Denver and a handful of cities in North Dakota. Soon airports in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas again began receiving requests to land from jets with a name they had not heard in several years. Ironically, the carrier's old rival, Continental, helped provide space for Frontier when it scaled back its operations at the new $4 billion Denver International Airport. Frontier's rebirth had originally been conceived as a charter operation.
The company's early strategy paralleled that of the original: providing flights on underserved routes rather than striving for the low-prices of some of its contemporaries. However, just as with the original, price competition in major markets became part of Frontier's game plan.
United Airlines, which had more than a 70 percent market share at Denver International, refused to use the company for feeder flights. (United's employees had killed its bid for the old Frontier in the mid-1980s, protesting the absorption of Frontier employees.) Frontier's planes remained less than half full until late in 1995 when, like its predecessor, it began competing on a price basis in major markets. In fact, operations in its original eight markets were suspended so the planes could be deployed on higher volume routes. Eventually, Frontier would reach cooperative agreements with 65 airlines.
In September 1995, a secondary public offering brought in $7.3 million of needed capital. Additional stock worth $3 million had been sold in May.
Frontier's fleet was comprised of several used Boeing 737s, one of the industry's most reliable and most sought-after. The company's expansion plans were limited by the availability of these planes. Across the tail sections were plastered photographs of western wildlife, such as grazing bison, howling timberwolves, or fox kits. In 1996, Frontier opened a facility in Denver which allowed it to handle its own routine maintenance.
In 1997, Frontier accused "monopolist" United Airlines of dumping--intentionally operating a large number of flights in order to gain market share--and other antitrust violations. These were prompted, according to Frontier, by the company's second profitable quarter.
As a low-price Colorado airline, Western Pacific was often compared with the new Frontier. They both operated the Boeing 737; WestPac, based 100 miles south of Denver at Colorado Springs, operated 19, which would have made a combined fleet of 34 aircraft.
In June 1997, the two agreed to merge. However, the merger was called off at the end of September. Differences in culture and operating philosophy were cited as the prime factors. The next week, WestPac announced it was seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but planned to remain in the air. In spite of losses earlier in the year, Frontier seemed to be faring better, posting increases in summer traffic.
Besides meeting its ever-present needs for capital, future challenges for Frontier included retrofitting its fleet with hush kits (at $2 million per plane) to meet federal noise regulations; one runway at Denver International had already been closed to certain of its aircraft due to the airport's noise agreement with the city of Denver.
Although the reincarnated Frontier Airlines seemed to possess just a shadow of the original Frontier's might, Monarch Air Lines was small and struggling in its first few years as well. If the company could survive its confrontation with the world's largest airline, who knew what heights the new phoenix would reach?
Frontier Airlines, Inc. was reborn in 1993, borrowing the name of the carrier that had previously served the Rockies and Midwest for nearly 50 years. The name was not merely a superficial brand: several of the new Frontier's executives and 75 percent of its starting work force had been associated with the original carrier. Frontier operated about a dozen 737s, competing as a low-fare carrier on several high-volume routes.
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1946 as Monarch Air Lines
Employees: 800
Sales: $70.4 million (1996)
Stock Exchanges: NASDAQ
SICs: 4512 Air Transportation, Scheduled
Address:
12015 East 46th Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80239-3116
U.S.A.