Frontier Airlines plans to double its routes and add 21 new
cities to its network. The carrier expects to reach 314 nonstop routes by
summer of 2018, reaching a total of 82 cities. In particular, it will boost
service out of its home airport of Denver with new service to cities including
Albuquerque; Oklahoma City; San Jose, Calif.; Boise; Buffalo; Calgary; Fresno,
Calif.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Little Rock; Louisville; and Spokane. "Our
growing network will provide more than 1,000 new connecting route
options," Frontier president and CEO Barry Biffle said. "By taking
advantage of our natural share of connecting passengers, we can offer our low
fares to even more of America."
United Airlines president Scott Kirby said Frontier's Denver
growth would "lead to some pricing pressure" to United's hub there. In
the long term, however, he said Frontier's focus on connections signals a move
away from its previous point-to-point strategy and that United is well equipped
to compete, especially with Basic Economy fares that put United on a more level
playing field price-wise. "This is the first public validation that one of
the [ultra-low-cost carriers] is throwing in the towel on the point-to-point
business model and switching to a network model, and that's a lot more
complicated," Kirby said. "They are now competing on our turf … and
that is a battle I guarantee United will win.
A Frontier spokesman told Bloomberg the growth
does not indicate a strategy shift, as Frontier already does connecting flights
out of Denver. Bloomberg also reported that Frontier has pushed back a planned
IPO to at least September; reportedly, it was originally set for the second
quarter of 2017.