Recession causes El Paso airport slump: Frontier Airlines to ground service in El Paso
FRNT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Frontier Airlines will pull out of El Paso on Sept. 14 after serving the city for 13 years.
"El Paso simply was not performing up to our expectation," Steve Snyder, a spokesman for Denver-based Frontier said in an e-mail. "We only have a limited number of aircraft, and we feel those aircraft can be better utilized in other cities right now."
Frontier had four flights a day between El Paso and Denver on 74-passenger airplanes.
Frontier's Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, which the airline filed in April 2008, didn't lead directly to the decision to leave the El Paso market, but "being in bankruptcy causes us to look that much more closely at every aspect of our operation," Snyder wrote.
Monica Lombrana, director of aviation at El Paso International Airport, said the airport always hates to lose an airline.
"Anytime you lose an airline, it offers less options for passengers," Lombrana said. "We also lose revenue associated with landing fees and leases."
El Paso still has direct service to Denver by United Express, Lombrana noted.
And the airport is gaining some flights this year, she said. Delta Airlines last month added flights to Salt Lake City, and Atlanta. United Express will add flights between Chicago and El Paso on Sept. 2.
Paul Coleman, president of Sun Travel, an El Paso travel agency, said Frontier's pullout is "unfortunate for our city and the traveling public. Any time you have an airline leave a market, (some) competition
goes away and that usually results in higher prices" for consumers.
Snyder said Frontier would like to place its 14 El Paso employees elsewhere in the company, but "we know not all of our employees will be willing or able to relocate."
Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; 546-6421.
More information: www.frontierairlines.com.
To see more of the El Paso Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.elpasotimes.com. Copyright (c) 2009, El Paso Times, Texas Distributed
by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
For full details on (FRNT) FRNT. (FRNT) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (FRNT) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
- Frontier, Allegiant Join Airport's Carrier Roster - 02/05/10
- Frontier Airlines to expand services from Denver for summer schedule - 02/05/10
- Frontier to begin flights between Madison and Denver - 02/05/10
- BRIEF: Republic to shut down Lynx, switch to jets between Wichita and Denver - 02/05/10
- Frontier Announces Summer Schedule with New Service - 02/04/10
- More News >>
