I don't know if I would call this big news, but it does seem to continue their slow, steady march of solid growth. These moves seem to make sense from Denver and the "focus city" at LAX seems to be a smart move since it picks up some pretty nice routes abandoned by AA. Perhaps we will see more from Frontier at LAX in the future. Wonder what TED will do next?
LAX-MSP: NW has a history of vigourously defending its hubs... (Remember Reno Air?) And NW has the Frequent Flyer advantage as MSP, so when they match fares, NW will retain a great deal of market share.
LAX-STL: AA still has 4 frequencies, + LUV adds one early next year... both have large Frequent Flyer bases at both ends
LAX-MCI: 5 LUV trips per day, LUV loyalty.
DEN-IAD: Going against UAL hub to hub? That will be a tough fight.
And, they are doing it all at once... Best of luck to F9, but these all look like up-hill battles... None of these look like a "sure thing"
Fontier is going to have a very hard time servicing DEN-LAX and DEN-IAD because they are going against three very large customer bases for UAL in LA, Denver and Washington. Also USAirs base could be considered part of UAL's base do to the codesharing agreement.
Pretty quick reaction... and NW's reminds me of the Reno Air situation... Reno Air announced RNO-MSP, and NW retaliated by announcing service to every Reno Air destination from RNO... I don't think they every actually started the service though, because I think the DOJ got involved... IIRC.
Well that didn't take NW very long. What was the difference - 4 hours or so. NW just hates to lose. It is exeactly like Reno Air, except it took less time to respond this time. I guess NWA gets quicker every time this happens. I can't wait for SWA to enter MSP and then we will see a blood bath!
While DEN-IAD might be a UA hub to hub route, fares on this route aren't exactly cheap. There will be some traffic that will be driven by fares and fares alone that F9 will capture. Plus F9 has the DCA-DEN route which the IAD flights will complement nicely, much like what AS and HP do with their DCA flights. Its not so hard to fly into DCA and out of IAD.
Fontier is going to have a very hard time servicing DEN-LAX and DEN-IAD because they are going against three very large customer bases for UAL in LA, Denver and Washington.
Actual, even if you include F9* markets, UA itself (not UA*) serves about two dozen nonstop markets from Denver that Frontier does not. Biggies include BOS, CLE, CLT, DSM, DTW, GEG, ORD, PHL, SAT, TUL, and YVR.
If you throw in United Express the list grows much larger, including many fairly significant destinations like BNA, EUG, MSN, CID, MEM, etc.
Actual, even if you include F9* markets, UA itself (not UA*) serves about two dozen nonstop markets from Denver that Frontier does not. Biggies include BOS, CLE, CLT, DSM, DTW, GEG, ORD, PHL, SAT, TUL, and YVR.
If you throw in United Express the list grows much larger, including many fairly significant destinations like BNA, EUG, MSN, CID, MEM, etc.
I think you misunderstood the question. Obviously, UA/UA* serve many more markets out of DEN than does Frontier. But the question was whether F9 has any DEN 'spokes' that are not competing with United on the route.
Pretty sure the answer is "no", since Frontier no longer serves Bloomington/Normal...
Its funny to see all of the naysayers carry on about Frontier making bad decisions and how UAL, NWA, AA, etc are so great. Why don't you worry about your own company and just do a good job. As worker bees we really have very little control over what our respect company decides.
I think you misunderstood the question. Obviously, UA/UA* serve many more markets out of DEN than does Frontier. But the question was whether F9 has any DEN 'spokes' that are not competing with United on the route.
Pretty sure the answer is "no", since Frontier no longer serves Bloomington/Normal...
Ahh, you're right...I did misunderstand. And yes, I think that since Frontier ended Bloomington and United Express added El Paso, all of the F9/F9* system competes directly with UA/UA*. Sorry for the mistake!
