Frontier Airlines

1990s

Frontier Airlines was created by Frederick W. "Rick" Brown (a United Airlines pilot), his wife Janice Brown, and Bob Schulman, the latter two having worked at the original Frontier Airlines that operated between 1950 and 1986. In 1993, Continental Airlines was scaling back flights from Denver's Stapleton International Airport (which was closed and replaced with Denver International Airport in 1995), and the three proposed a charter airline named AeroDenver Travel Services to fill demand on international routes, potentially in partnership with Condor Airlines. To run the company, they brought in M. C. "Hank" Lund (ex-CEO of the original Frontier Airlines) as CEO and Sam Addoms as executive vice-president and treasurer (later CEO).

As Continental's Denver drawback expanded in scope in late 1993, the proposed airline pivoted to fill regional routes, and adopted the Frontier Airlines name. The company was incorporated in February and went public in May 1994. Scheduled flights began on July 5, 1994, using Boeing 737-200 jetliners between Denver and four cities in North Dakota. Around three-quarters of its 180 employees, and many executives, had worked for the original Frontier Airlines. By January 1995, Frontier had expanded its route network from Denver and was serving destinations in New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, Texas, Nevada, Nebraska, and Arizona. Like the original airline of the same name, the new Frontier operated a hub at Denver (DEN) and for the first nine years used the slogan "The Spirit of the West" which was displayed above the windows and just behind the cursive letters "Frontier" on the fuselage of their aircraft.

In 1999, Frontier signed agreements to begin purchasing and leasing Airbus A318 and A319 jet aircraft and had also added Boeing 737-300 jetliners to its fleet as well. Also by September 1999, the airline was serving destinations from coast to coast in the U.S., having expanded its route network to include Atlanta (ATL); Baltimore (BWI); Bloomington/Normal, Illinois (BMI); Boston (BOS); Chicago (MDW, Midway Airport); Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW); Phoenix (PHX); Los Angeles (LAX); Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP); New York City (LGA, LaGuardia Airport); Orlando (MCO); Portland, Oregon (PDX); Salt Lake City (SLC); San Diego (SAN); San Francisco (SFO); and Seattle (SEA), all served from its Denver hub.

2000s

Frontier took delivery of its first Airbus aircraft (an A319) in 2001 and simultaneously launched with it DirecTV in-flight television along with a new company livery. Frontier Airlines was the launch customer of the Airbus A318 in 2003. In mid-April 2005, Frontier officially became an all-Airbus fleet, retiring its last Boeing 737. Jeff Potter was appointed CEO in 2002. Sean Menke, formerly Senior Marketing VP with Air Canada, succeeded Potter as CEO of Frontier Airlines in 2007, and guided the company through bankruptcy reorganization.

As part of its plan to stay competitive in reaction to the entry of Southwest Airlines into Denver, the company underwent a reorganization early in 2006. On April 3, 2006, Frontier created Frontier Airlines Holdings (FRNT), a holding company incorporated in Delaware to take advantage of favorable tax laws in that state. The corporate headquarters did not leave Colorado. In 2007, Frontier established a commuter airline subsidiary, Lynx Aviation, Inc., chaired by Dr. Paul Stephen Dempsey. Dr. Dempsey was Vice-Chairman of Frontier Airlines for 15 years. He left the University of Denver in 2002 to become Tomlinson Professor of Law, and Director of the Institute of Air & Space Law at McGill University.

On January 24, 2007, Frontier was designated as a major carrier by the United States Department of Transportation.

On January 11, 2007, Frontier Airlines signed an 11-year service agreement with Republic Airways. Under the agreement, Republic was to operate 17 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft for the former Frontier JetExpress operations. At the time the contract was canceled in April 2008, Republic Airways operated 11 aircraft for Frontier Airlines, with the remaining six aircraft expected to join the fleet by December 2008. With the integration of Republic aircraft, the 'JetExpress' denotation was removed. Subsequent to the cessation of Horizon's services for Frontier in December 2007, all flights operated by Republic were sold and marketed as "Frontier Airlines, operated by Republic Airways." The first market created specifically for the Embraer 170 was Louisville, Kentucky, which began on April 1, 2007. Service to Louisville was suspended in August 2008 but restarted in April 2010.

Flights operated by Republic Airlines offered in-flight snack and beverage services similar to Frontier's mainline flights. Unlike Frontier's aircraft and due to the nature of contracting with regional carriers, these Embraer 170 aircraft were not fitted with LiveTV.

On April 10, 2008, Frontier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in reaction to the intent of its credit card processor, First Data, to withhold significant proceeds from ticket sales. First Data decided that it would withhold 100% of the carrier's proceeds from ticket sales beginning May 1.