Frontier to Cut Routes to Florida and Las Vegas in Strategy Overhaul

03.04.2024 - 22:35 / travelandleisure.com / Katy Nastro / Barry Biffle / Airlines

For years, Frontier Airlines has offered ultra-low cost fares to popular vacation destinations — like Florida and Las Vegas — and charged for nearly every extra on board. Now, the airline is shifting gears a bit, exploring new “overpriced” markets and offering more luxury options to compete with some of the larger carriers.

Frontier CEO Barry Biffle told Reuters on Tuesday that going forward, the airline plans to focus on cities like Indianapolis, Seattle, and Detroit — where there’s less low-cost competition and they can therefore charge more for tickets — and reduce its Florida and Las Vegas flights by a third this summer.

A spokesperson for the airline confirmed the changes to Travel + Leisure on Wednesday.

“We have been gradually implementing a network redesign to shift some capacity away from oversaturated leisure markets like Las Vegas and Florida while increasing service in certain markets that are underserved and or overpriced,” the spokesperson said.

Flying to the more underserved routes is also a move to attract more business travelers, although the spokesperson assured T+L that the airline plans to remain «an ultra-low cost carrier.”

As part of the overhaul strategy, Biffle explained, however, that flying to popular destinations have actually brought revenue down.

»What happened last year in Florida was the equivalent of Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, and Target all opening up on the same block," Biffle told the wire service in reference to multiple airlines serving one place, which ultimately led to fares dropping. “When we look at our route profitability, we make the most money where we compete with legacies.”

The airline also hopes to increase earnings, Reuters reported, as it failed to report a profit in three of the last four quarters.

Overall, ultra-low cost carriers like Frontier make up about 15 percent of the market for domestic passengers in the U.S., Katy Nastro, a travel expert at Going, told T+L. But, she said, there’s been a growing demand for premium travel and “coming off the pandemic combined with a major shift to more international travel in 2023, [ultra-low cost carriers] are rethinking how they are going to keep growing and make money.”

Hand-in-hand with Frontier’s move to enter more competitive and higher-priced markets is the airline’s decision to offer a more luxury product. In February, Frontier introduced a new economic business class, BizFare, including premium seats, free carry-on bags, and other perks. And last month, the airline added an “UpFront Plus” option, which allows travelers to purchase seats in the first two rows with a blocked middle seat for added comfort.

“To be able to compete with the big guys and keep up with customer tastes, Frontier is not only