Pinnacle?
Frontier Airlines to announce regional operator soon
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/53296.html#
By CATHERINE TSAI | Associated Press
December 7, 2006
DENVER (AP) - Frontier Airlines expects to announce within the next 45 days who will be the new operator of its regional service, Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate said Thursday.
Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc., the parent company of the Denver-based low-fare carrier, has been seeking bids from airlines interested in flying 17 regional jets.
Horizon Air had been flying nine CRJ-700 regional jets under the Frontier JetExpress brand since 2004. Frontier and Horizon, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc., decided to part ways as Frontier expanded the regional service.
Tate said at the Calyon Securities airline conference in New York that an announcement on the new operator would likely come in 30 to 45 days.
In September, Frontier also said it would buy 10 Q400 aircraft from Bombardier Inc.
Tate said the planes, with their powerful engines that are well-suited to mountain flying, were perfect for serving Telluride, Aspen and Vail. Frontier is interested in getting into all three ski resort towns, Tate said.
"We want to be Colorado's best airline. You can't be Colorado's best airline and not serve those markets," he said.
Frontier faces competition in Denver from United Airlines, which has a hub here, and Southwest Airlines, which reintroduced service here in January. Expanding to cities where Southwest would not fly and to Mexico will help Frontier diversify a bit from Denver, Tate said.
For instance, Frontier already offers service to the Mexican cities of Cabo San Lucas, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta from cities other than Denver.
Adding service in Mexico, where there is less competition, offers more profitable opportunities than trying to steal market share domestically, Tate said.
Frontier shares were trading down 18 cents at $7.50 midday Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.