Life after Frontier Airlines

Life after Frontier Airlines


A Herald employee was in Boulder, Colo., when he received our email news alert that Frontier Airlines was discontinuing its service to the Provo Airport.

Since he had taken Frontier's flight to Denver, he worried that he wouldn't have a way home. When he learned that the service would not end until Jan. 7, he calmed down.

Utah Valley residents should feel the same way. We should be optimistic that another airline will soon take Frontier's place. Frontier has long been trying to work its way out of financial trouble, only recently emerging from bankruptcy, and so the pull-back can be seen as a consequence of a company reorganizing itself, not the death knell of air service to Provo.

According to Provo Mayor John Curtis, it never was a question of passenger counts or the financial viability of the Provo-Denver route. It's just that Frontier is planning to sell the plane along with other smaller aircraft it owns. Curtis said the Denver route brought in flight revenues of nearly $1 million -- when counting the purchase of second-leg trips out of Denver.

Whether counting connecting flights makes a good yardstick is for experts to debate. But in general Curtis's take doesn't seem to square with what the airline is saying. Financial performance was the central issue, according to Frontier spokeswoman Lindsey Carpenter.

"Provo has consistently failed to meet our expectations," Carpenter said, "Provo was trailing our Denver hub average by 15 points. As of right now there are no plans to return to the Provo market."

So which is it -- success or failure? Local residents would like to know. We'll side with the positive because a troubled company cannot be the best barometer.

Yet Provo should be grateful that Frontier blazed a path. What's been accomplished to date should ease the way for a replacement airline to serve Utah Valley.

For example, Texas-based TAC Air purchased the terminal, Million Air, earlier this year, and the latest passenger-screening equipment has been installed. The infrastructure will be ready and waiting after the first of the year.

A good local development team is also in place. Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Provo city and the Provo Airport for leadership and teamwork in preparing for commercial flights. Now the team just needs to go back into negotiation mode.

When Frontier came to Provo in June 2011 it seemed a perfect fit for the area. We had finally grown up. It's important to maintain that mindset. Provo occupies a beautiful neck of the woods. It's got a new convention center and an emerging hotel district with meeting space and restaurants. There's lots to offer.

As word gets out, more companies and organizations will be looking to come to Provo for their events. An airport literally five minutes away from downtown is a big plus.

We have no doubt that somebody is going to pick up where Frontier left off. There may even be other regional route possibilities than just Denver -- think Las Vegas, a natural jumping-off point for travel elsewhere in the country, often with cheaper fares. Or how about Phoenix, or even Southern California? Hello, Disneyland, we've got some kids for you.

The point is that all is not lost. On the contrary, much has been gained in knowledge about what it takes to have successful air service.

Thinking about replacing Frontier, Provo ought to see if it could get a little brainstorming from David Neeleman, the brilliant entrepreneur with Utah roots who founded JetBlue Airlines. Neeleman, who grew up in Salt Lake Valley, is currently tracing another madly successful business arc in Brazil with his latest venture, Azul Airlines, which now owns more than 100 aircraft and built a business with 8,000 employees in under four years. Neeleman just celebrated he 20-millionth passenger in Brazil after starting at zero. And that's on top of his business airline, called Legacy.

So here's a suggestion: Get a little bit of Neeleman to rub off in Provo, and Utah Valley will be back in the air before you know it.