Frontier Airlines to open Tampa base, plans for Atlanta

Low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines (F9, Denver Int’l) will establish a crew base at Tampa Int’l in May 2021, and plans to open another one at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson in late 2021. “With our low-cost structure and focus on leisure travel, Frontier is exceptionally well-positioned to increase operations this year and continue to expand in these two growing markets,” Chief Executive Officer and president, Barry Biffle, said in a statement. He said 390 crew – 140 pilots and 250 flight attendants – would be based at Tampa by the end of 2021, with that number expected to increase in the future. The carrier’s plans at Atlanta will be announced in due course. He said the airline expected good growth in routes serving both cities in 2021. Frontier currently offers nearly 20 nonstop routes from Tampa and more than 15 nonstop options from Atlanta, with a wide range of connections within Frontier’s domestic and international network. “Any time we add a new crew base, it is an indicator of continued growth for our airline and also welcomed news for our crew members, who gain a new home base option, and local communities that reap the economic benefits,” said Biffle. Frontier already operates from six bases in the US, including from Chicago O’Hare, Denver Int’l, New York Newark, Orlando Int’l, Philadelphia Int’l, and Trenton, NJ. At Tampa, it trails behind some of the major US carriers and fellow low-cost carriers Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways when it comes to market share measured in seat capacity. According to the ch-aviation capacities module, Frontier currently holds merely 4.47% of the 183,183 total weekly seats at Tampa, compared to Spirit’s 9.66% and JetBlue’s 9.64%. Delta Air Lines holds the lion share of 24.23% seat capacity at Tampa, followed by Southwest Airlines with 23.57%, American Airlines with 13.51%, and United Airlines with 13.51%. Frontier operates a fleet of 100 aircraft, including nineteen A320-200s, sixty A320-200Ns, and twenty-one A321-200. It has seventy-one A320-200Ns, sixty-seven A321-200Ns, and eighteen A321-200NX(XLR)s on order, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module.