Frontier Airlines reveals capacity growth plans

Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle announced plans to grow the carrier’s capacity by an estimated 20 percent over the next decade.

According to Reuters.com, Biffle revealed that the low-cost carrier wants to increase the number of seats it offers by 10-20 percent a year, starting in 2024. After Frontier’s bid to merge with fellow discount airline Spirit failed, Biffle said the carrier is looking to take a larger share of the leisure travel market in the United States away from rivals.

Frontier officials previously shared plans to increase capacity in 2022 by as much as 15 percent over pre-pandemic totals and 30 percent year-over-year in 2023. If the discount carrier meets its goals, it will operate a network similar in size to American Airlines in 2019.

While many of the top airlines in the U.S. have cut capacity due to staffing shortages, Frontier is leaning on its deep roster of pilots, low prices and non-ticket revenue to expand not only current routes, but also add new services to communities underserved by larger carriers.

In addition to taking advantage by adding smaller cities that lost air service due to pilot shortages at major carriers, the airline said it would not hesitate to cut flights from existing airports if there is a “mismatch between what it can charge and costs.”

With Spirit and JetBlue likely to merge, Frontier is leaning into the low-cost, low-fare business model that could thrive in an economy threatened by rising inflation rates and an impending recession.

Frontier is using the combination of low ticket prices and new ancillary products and services to offset the impact of high fuel and labor costs.

Earlier this week, Frontier announced it would add five more international destinations to its flight schedule out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the nation’s busiest airport.