Glad I flew Frontier while it’s still Frontier

August 5th, 2009 at 12:11pm Thomas V. Bona

Just back from my vacation in Santa Fe, an amazing city with a much lusher climate than I expected from the southwest (the mile-plus altitude helps). It even hailed one day, though a shopkeeper said, “This almost never happens” while I resisted the $700 boots she was selling. (It wasn’t hard to resist).

Anyway, we flew from Midway to Denver, then drove down to Santa Fe. Mainly it was an excuse to fly for the first time on Frontier Airlines (and to catch a Rockies game and some excellent beer in Denver). I’m glad I flew Frontier - had an excellent couple of flights; moreover, Frontier as we know it may not be long for this world.

While I was gone, Southwest Airlines made a preliminary bid to buy Frontier. This is big news in Denver - Frontier is the second-biggest airline there and Southest in number three. Both are low-cost carriers, and the sense is there’s not enough room there for both. Cranky Flier, like others, expects Southwest to operate Frontier as a standalone subsidiary for a bit, then phase out its planes and gobble up some of its employees:

Ultimately, however, I think this is just about one thing. Southwest can eliminate a competitor for just over $100 million. They must believe that they can benefit by more than that by simply getting rid of Frontier. … There really isn’t much room for three carriers over in Denver, and this is a cheap way to fix that problem.

Cranky thinks it’s potentially good news for United, which will see a competitor disappear, another one shell out millions and cut competition at some non-Southwesty routes to Mexico and smaller western cities. Wall Street Journal is not so sure, while Airline Bulletin thinks United could make its own bid. This will be interesting to watch - Republic is still in the Frontier bidding, though for how much?

Anyway, the smart money is on Southwest getting what it wants and eventually ending Frontier as we know it. That would be sad, in that Frontier has a unique product - the in-seat DirectTV was worth the $6, I love the animal pictures on the tails and the prices are right. Had the smoothest landing I’ve ever had into Midway (though, to be fair, most of my landings were on old ATA planes so the bar wasn’t too hight). If I had an excuse to fly though Denver again, I might trek down to Midway for Frontier.

Though, if Southwest gobbles them up, it’s not the end of the world - Southwest also had a unique product that I enjoy as well. When it comes down to it, I’ll fly whichever airline gives me the best fare at the most convenient airports, though things like Frontier and JetBlue’s in-seat TVs and AirTran’s satellite radio are nice tie-breakers.

Thoughts on the changing airline landscape?

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