Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines began scheduled flying from Denver on 5 July 1994, as Continental Airlines was cutting back its operation at the city's old Stapleton airport. Its founders, United Airlines pilot Frederick "Rick" Brown, Janice Brown and Bob Schulman, took the name of an earlier Frontier Airlines that had flown from 1950 to 1986, and many of the new airline's first employees had worked there. The first flights used Boeing 737-200s between Denver and four cities in North Dakota. Denver is still its headquarters and largest operation, and the company marked 30 years of service there in July 2024.

Owners and models

Before 2013 Frontier was a low-fare airline, but not an ultra-low-cost one. It moved to Airbus A318 and A319 aircraft from 1999, flew coast to coast by the end of that year, and added regional partners for smaller Rocky Mountain markets. After a period in bankruptcy, it was bought in 2009 by Republic Airways Holdings, which ran it alongside Midwest Airlines and later looked to sell it. In December 2013 the private equity firm Indigo Partners completed its purchase of Frontier, with the stated aim of turning it into an ultra-low-cost carrier. That change defines the airline today: the base fare buys a seat and one personal item, and carry-on bags, checked bags, seat selection and changes are paid extras, sold individually or in bundles. Frontier Group Holdings floated on Nasdaq on 1 April 2021 under the ticker ULCC. An attempt in 2022 to merge with Spirit Airlines, another US ultra-low-cost carrier, ended when Spirit's shareholders rejected the offer in July that year.

Network

Frontier lists 13 crew base cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia/Trenton, Phoenix, San Juan and Tampa. It operates up to 700 daily flights across the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. In the second quarter of 2026 it added flying at Dallas-Fort Worth, Newark, Santa Ana, Fort Lauderdale, Washington Dulles, Nashville, Las Vegas, Boise and Oakland. In September 2026 it announced its first South American routes, from Orlando to Medellín, Bogotá and Cartagena, starting in December 2026 subject to government approval.

Fleet

Frontier flies only the Airbus A320 family, all on operating leases. At 30 June 2026 it had 165 aircraft: 72 A320neos, 6 A320ceos, 21 A321ceos and 66 A321neos. The cabins are all-economy in a 3–3 layout, with 186 seats on the A320neo, 230 on the A321ceo and 240 on the A321neo. During that quarter it took two A320neos and four A321neos and handed back 24 A320neos early under a lease-termination agreement. It expected six more deliveries in the third quarter of 2026: five A321neos and one A320neo. Frontier has used a mix of CFM LEAP-1A and Pratt & Whitney GTF engines since switching its remaining orders to the GTF in 2021.

The "New Frontier"

Under a programme it calls "The New Frontier", the airline has been adding paid comfort options while keeping its unbundled pricing. UpFront Plus sells the first two rows as window or aisle seats with extra legroom and a guaranteed empty middle seat. A first-class product with Geven-designed seats in a 2–2 layout is due to debut in 2026. In July 2026 the airline announced Starlink Wi-Fi, with the first equipped aircraft planned for early 2027. Jimmy Dempsey is president and chief executive.