Sufficient is sufficient: That is the message from Frontier Airways’ new chief in regards to the funds airline’s turbulent historical past of flight delays and cancellations.
And the airline is ready, he stated, to make main modifications to get higher.
“We’re merely not happy with our previous document,” recently appointed CEO James Dempsey stated on the corporate’s earnings name Wednesday. “The established order will not be acceptable.”
Frontier has lengthy struggled with operational reliability. It has been a lingering frustration for passengers — particularly those that get stranded on routes the airline solely flies two or thrice per week.
In response to U.S. Division of Transportation statistics, Frontier canceled 2.3% of all flights in 2024 — the final full yr with information obtainable. That was by far the worst results of any main U.S. airline.
The service additionally noticed its planes get to the gate late at the next fee than any of its opponents. And final summer season, it turned in a last-place end in TPG’s Best Airlines Report.
Fixing these issues is a prime precedence in 2026, stated Dempsey, who just lately assumed the CEO put up after the abrupt departure late last year by longtime govt Barry Biffle.
“Each obtainable choice is on the desk,” Dempsey stated, “to enhance our efficiency.”
What’s Frontier doing to enhance?
Amongst different strikes, the service is working to get quicker at prepping planes for takeoff after they get to the gate — and smarter about plane upkeep, in hopes of avoiding dreaded mechanical delays.
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Frontier can also be planning to enhance the alerts it sends to clients when issues come up, after beefing up its cell app, which is now used, the service stated, by round 85% of flyers.
Extra flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
Simplifying issues, the airline can have fewer planes to take care of.
After dropping $137 million in 2025, Frontier on Wednesday introduced a deal to chop quick its leases on two dozen plane.
As a substitute, the airline plans to squeeze extra flights out of its different planes.
That features extra flights on quieter days of the week.
A extra ‘balanced’ flight schedule
Have you ever ever observed that Frontier affords some flights on sure days of the week from your private home airport … however not others?
There is a cause.
In recent times, Frontier has packed its schedule with flights on peak journey days like Fridays and Sundays — however flown a much lighter schedule on lower-demand days, reminiscent of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The considering: “Why fly on days when fewer individuals wish to journey?”
However extra day-to-day consistency is coming. And it is due partially to the struggles of Spirit Airways.
Frontier’s prime funds airline competitor is presently embroiled in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and has slashed flights from its schedule.
With much less competitors, Frontier thinks it ought to be capable of refill extra planes on extra days of the week.
“Two years in the past, the overlap [on routes] between Frontier and Spirit was near 50%. It is now meaningfully decrease than that,” Dempsey stated — particularly within the western U.S.
Second place in Atlanta
It is not simply Spirit’s cutbacks that Frontier is seizing on.
The service is profiting from Southwest Airlines’ thinner schedule in Atlanta to seize a bonus on the world’s busiest airport.
In 2025, Frontier supplied almost 3.5 million seats out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL), in keeping with information from aviation analytics agency Cirium.
That edged out Southwest for the second-highest variety of seats supplied by an airline on the Georgia hub.
Actuality verify: Second-best is all any airline can hope for at an airport dominated by Delta Air Traces.
However Frontier has doubled down on the airport, adding a bunch of new routes in 2025 — together with locations in Latin America.
The service expects that progress to proceed in 2026: In the course of the first half of this yr, its whole seats from the airport are set to be up a whopping 75% over final yr, Cirium exhibits.
“You’ve got seen Southwest and Spirit scale back capability in Atlanta,” Dempsey informed analysts. “We’re actually proud of the efficiency of the bottom.”
Up subsequent: First-class
The largest change Frontier flyers will see within the coming months: first-class seats.
These were slated to debut by spring, and can finally occupy the primary two rows of all its planes.
Additionally on faucet: onboard Wi-Fi. After months of speculation, Dempsey on Wednesday confirmed Frontier plans so as to add inflight web service to its jets between now and early 2027.
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