Frontier Airlines is showing no signs of letting up on the network shake-up that’s helped define the carrier in 2024.
Just days removed from launching its first-ever service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), the Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier is planning a second JFK route that’s set to take off later this summer.
The new route from New York’s largest airport to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) is one of seven new routes the budget carrier announced last week.
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It’s also the latest in a prolonged series of network adjustments Frontier has made since the start of 2024.
Continuing with the playbook that’s been guiding its 2024 shake-up, Frontier is again bolstering service at some of the largest hubs of its legacy airline competitors.
Among the seven new routes are two new daily nonstops between Delta Air Lines’ home base of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and a separate Delta hub — including one transcontinental flight.
It’s also continuing a rapid 2024 expansion at American Airlines’ Sun Belt hubs of Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (CLT).
The changes all take effect in mid-August, just as the summer air travel peak should be starting to cool off a bit.
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Frontier’s 7 new routes
Here’s the full rundown of Frontier’s new routes announced last week:
| Route | Launches | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| ATL to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) | Aug. 13 | Daily |
| ATL to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) | Aug. 13 | Daily |
| BOS-CLT | Aug. 13 | Daily |
| BOS-DFW | Aug. 14 | Four weekly round trips |
| JFK-LAS | Aug. 13 | Daily |
| LAX to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) | Aug. 13 | Daily |
| San Diego International Airport (SAN) to SMF | Aug. 13 | Daily |
Six of these seven routes will mark first-ever service for Frontier. The carrier did previously operate a limited number of flights between Atlanta and LAX in 2021, and also prior to the pandemic, as confirmed in data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
However, that past service pales in comparison with the daily nonstops Frontier now plans to operate on the transcontinental route.
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Meanwhile, the new Las Vegas route is the carrier’s second-ever flight from JFK. The airline made its JFK debut earlier this month with a new nonstop to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Latest twist in a larger strategy shake-up
It’s been an active 2024 at Frontier, which has made both network adjustments and larger strategy shifts amid lagging financial performance of late.
As TPG has reported, the route map shake-up has been part of a well-documented effort to focus a little less heavily on domestic leisure destinations that are popular, but highly competitive with service from so many airlines.
But the carrier has also made numerous other changes, from launching a European business class-style concept called “Upfront Plus” — which entails blocking the middle seat in the first couple rows. More notably, the company recently eliminated change fees for most ticket types and overhauled how it displays fares and add-on charges, offering four choices on a far more concrete menu of pricing options.
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“During COVID, we spent a lot of time focusing on ancillary [fees],” Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said last month, speaking at the Wolfe Research Global Transportation & Industrials Conference.
“If you look, we got more expensive than the legacies [American, Delta and United Airlines], on many of the itineraries,” Biffle explained. “Which is just absurd.”
Bottom line
Frontier may not be done with changes as the airline hopes to boost its profitability.
“There’s more to come,” Biffle teased late last month.
That’s certainly true with respect to the airline’s route map, which continues to adapt as the airline searches for routes that, it hopes, will allow it to charge higher fares, boosting its bottom line.
It was not immediately clear whether the airline is planning any route eliminations in conjunction with these latest network changes.
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