Frontier Airlines
United States · FRONTIER FLIGHT · Active
Current Offers4 active
Past Campaigns1 archived
Airline Identity
History
Frontier Airlines was founded in 1994 by former United Airlines pilot Frederick "Rick" Brown, his wife Janice Brown, and Bob Schulman, incorporating in February and beginning service on 5 July 1994 with Boeing 737-200s linking Denver to four North Dakota cities. The carrier transitioned to an all-Airbus fleet through the 2000s, becoming Airbus A318 launch customer in 2003, before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2008 amid a dispute with its credit-card processor; it emerged in October 2009 after being acquired by Republic Airways Holdings. In December 2013, private equity firm Indigo Partners bought Frontier from Republic and repositioned it as an ultra-low-cost carrier. In 2022 Frontier attempted a $2.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines, but Spirit shareholders rejected the bid in favor of a rival JetBlue offer.
Current Operations
Frontier operates an all-Airbus A320-family fleet of A319neo, A320neo and A321neo jets, numbering roughly 100-plus aircraft, serving over 120 destinations across the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Denver remains its primary hub, supported by crew bases in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando and Phoenix. The carrier, majority-controlled by Indigo Partners and led by CEO James G. Dempsey, has faced regulatory and public scrutiny over baggage-fee practices, including December 2024 Senate testimony on ancillary-fee transparency. Despite the controversy, Frontier ranked among Skytrax's best low-cost North American airlines in 2025 and continues renewing its fleet with new Airspace-cabin A320neos.
Last verified 2026-08-22· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.