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Frontier Airlines is an American ultra low-cost carrier headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The eighth-largest commercial airline in the US, Frontier Airlines operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 30 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 air-travel professionals.[17] The carrier is a subsidiary and operating brand of Indigo Partners, LLC, and maintains a hub at Denver International Airport with numerous focus cities across the US.

In August 2018, Frontier began a codeshare agreement with Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris.

Current fleet[edit][]

Frontier Airbus A321-200

As of March 2020, Frontier Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft:

Aircraft livery[edit][]

From 1994 to 2001, the airline's livery consisted of green script "Frontier" titles on the forward fuselage, a small "Spirit of the West" slogan, and wildlife photography on the tail of each aircraft.[92] Most Boeing 737 aircraft featured different imagery on both sides.[93]

Beginning in 2001, a new livery was introduced on the airline's new Airbus A319s, with large silver "FRONTIER" titles on the sides of the aircraft, and the airline's "Spirit of the West" slogan, later changed to "A whole different animal." The animal tails were retained, although only one image per aircraft was now used. Though the airline's Boeing 737s remained in the fleet until 2005, none were repainted into this livery.

In April 2013, Frontier introduced a modified version of that livery,[94] keeping the iconic animals on aircraft tails, but dropping its former slogan and replacing "FRONTIER" with "FLYFRONTIER.COM", the company's website, in support of new marketing that focused heavily on the airline's web presence. This livery was only painted on a few newly delivered aircraft. Aircraft in the older livery received "FLYFRONTIER.COM" titles on engine nacelles.

On September 9, 2014, Frontier introduced an updated livery,[95] as part of a rebranding that saw the spokes animals' roles increase. The new livery reintroduced a green "FRONTIER" typeface to the fuselage, featuring the stylized "F" designed by Saul Bass for the original Frontier in 1978. Each aircraft features the name of the animal featured on its tail near the nose of the aircraft for easier identification. Currently about twenty five aircraft in the Frontier fleet feature the new livery.

Animal concepts used in the livery extend into Frontier's marketing as well. Each animal has a specific name.[96] Animal aircraft used in their radio and television commercials include Jack the rabbit, Grizwald the bear, Foxy the fox (for whom Jack has a crush), Flip the dolphin (who always gets stuck going to Chicago rather than the warmer climates the others are going to), Larry the lynx, Hector the sea otter, and Sal the cougar. New additions are Penguins Jim, Joe, Jay, and Gary, a barbershop-style quartet, singing the praises of EarlyReturns to an audience of Frontier's well-known characters from the "a whole different animal" campaign, Hector the otter, advertising Frontier's expanding service to Mexico, and Polly the Parrot, who won the new animal audition in 2012. 

Services[edit][]

In-flight services[edit][]

At 19″ wide, the middle seats in the airline's Airbus 321s, A320s, and A319s are wider than the window and aisle seats and, as of July 2015 when the airline began installing them, are the widest middle seats of any airline in the U.S.[97] The A321ceo and A321neo, utilized on longer flights, features industry-standard seat pitch of 30"-32".[98] The airline uses a seat pitch of only 28″-29", the tightest seat pitch of any airline in the United States, on their A320ceo and A320neo, typically operated on shorter flights. Frontier Airlines has 28"-31" on the Airbus A319, which they are phasing out.[99][100] Main cabin seats are "pre-reclined" by the airline[97] and there are no televisions mounted at any of the seats in order to save weight.

"Stretch" row seating, available for an additional fee or complimentary for Frontier Elite Program members, features an extra 5-8" pitch, full-reclining seat, lumbar support and diamond stitching.

Frequent-flyer program[edit][]

Frontier Miles is the frequent-flyer program for Frontier Airlines, replacing the EarlyReturns program, which existed from 2003 to 2018.[101] Frontier Miles can be earned by flying Frontier Airlines, using the Frontier Airlines World MasterCard, or by spending at partner hotels, car rental chains, cruises, and merchants.[102] Frontier Miles can be redeemed for flights, magazine subscriptions, and car rentals.[103] Since February 2019, hotel stays are also part of the redemption options.[104]

Frontier has a three-tier frequent flyer status program. The tiers are Elite 20K (earned by flying 20,000 Status Qualifying Miles [SQM] or 25 segments in a calendar year), Elite 50K (50,000 SQM or 50 segments), and Elite 100K (100,000 SQM or 100 segments). Elite benefits include free carry-on and checked bags, advance seat assignment and family seating, priority boarding, redemption fee waiver, stretch seating, Discount Den membership, and mileage multipliers.[

Concerns and conflicts[edit][]

Customer satisfaction and airline ratings[edit][]

In 2015, Frontier was ranked in an airline quality rating report by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Wichita State University as one of the five worst airlines in the United States, especially due to its rate of customer complaints and bumped passengers.[97][106][107] The airline also had relatively poor on-time performance, and the waiting time for help when calling the airline on the phone was reported to have risen to two hours or more.[108]

As of 2018, one review of Frontier Airlines found the carrier made noticeable improvements in mishandled baggage while expanding its route network

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