is a
Low-cost Airline based at
Denver International Airport in
Denver, Colorado ,
USA . It operates flights throughout the
United States and
Mexico .
The original Frontier Airlines was founded by the June 1950 merger of Monarch Airlines, Challenger Airlines, and Arizona Airways, which served routes in the
Great Plains and
Western United States . It was based at
Stapleton International Airport in
Denver, Colorado , where it competed with
Continental Airlines and
United Airlines . Frontier further expanded its network by merging with
Central Airlines in
1967 .
The airline's economics declined in the
1970s , and plans to sell the airline to its employees, then to
Frank Lorenzo 's
Texas Air group fell through. In
1985 it was acquired by
People Express , but the merger pushed both companies into bankruptcy. In
1986 , People Express and Frontier Airlines were both merged into Continental Airlines, a Texas Air unit.
A new Frontier Airlines was created in and its subsidary Ted, both of which has a Denver hub. In the late
1990s , Frontier began purchasing
Airbus aircraft and offering
DirecTV in-flight television on its new aircraft. In mid-April 2005, Frontier officially became an all-Airbus fleet, retiring its last 737. It now has an average fleet age of less than two years, making its fleet one of the United States’ youngest.
Frontier Airlines was the launch customer of the
Airbus A318 in
2003 , and now has seven in its fleet. Frontier has routes extending from coast to coast and to Mexico. The vast majority of its flights are through its Concourse A hub in Denver, although Frontier has recently begun direct service to
Cancún from several other cities. Frontier did have an abortive attempt to establish a focus city at Los Angeles International Airport in 2003-4, but retreated under heavy competition. In 2006, Frontier returned to the California market with five daily point-to-point routes between
Los Angeles and
San Francisco
Frontier is now facing major competition from
Southwest Airlines now that they have entered the Denver International Airport market. Due to Southwest's growth at Denver and a resurgent United Airlines, Frontier has limited space to grow at Denver without committing to airport expansion, which would in turn be paid for by higher fees to the airline.
Frontier has a
Codeshare arrangement with
Horizon Air , serving several smaller markets using
CRJ-700 aircraft under the name “Frontier JetExpress”. Frontier also
Codeshares with regional carrier
Great Lakes Airlines , connecting flights at
Denver International Airport .
For destinations, please go to
Frontier Airlines Destinations
Frontier is very discreet with their new destinations. In early March, Frontier announced they would begin flying to
Calgary (
Calgary International Airport ). This is the first time a Low Cost Carrier based in the US has ever flown into
Canada .
The frontier Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at November 2005):
The average Frontier Airlines fleet age is 2.6 years old as of March 2006.
Frontier has 6
Airbus A319-100 , 4
Airbus A318-110 , and 10
Airbus A320-110 on order to be delivered by 2011.
An all-white fuselage with silver billboard-style “Frontier” titles on the sides of the aircraft. Frontier uses wildlife photography on the vertical stabilizers and winglets of the aircraft to produce a distinctive look, touted in their advertisements along with their slogan: “A Whole Different Animal.”
The livery has also made it into Frontier’s marketing as well. Animal aircraft used in their radio and television commercials include Jack the rabbit, Grizwald the bear, Foxy the fox (for whom Jack has a crush), Flip the dolphin (who always gets stuck going to cold climates instead of Florida), Larry the lynx, and Sal the cougar. New additions are Penguins Jim, Joe, Jay, and Gary, a barbershop-style quartet, singing the praises of the program to an audience of Frontier’s well-known characters from the “a whole different animal” campaign, and Hector the otter, advertising Frontier's expanded service to Mexico.
Frontier Airlines is occasionally confused with
Fairbanks, Alaska –based
Frontier Flying Service , because of the similarity in name. Passengers at
Anchorage International Airport are especially prone to this confusion, because both ''Frontiers'' fly out of the airport, albeit from different terminals.
