Frontier looks to lighten load and trim costs

Date posted: 12-Jun-07.Frontier Airlines announced plans to retrofit its A318/A319 fleet with lighter seats in an effort to cut annual fuel costs by USD5.4 million. The 18-month project is expected to commence later this year and is projected to reduce weight by up to 1,588lb on the A319 and up to 1,372lb on the A318. Each of the three-seat sets supplied by B/E Aerospace weighs about 36lb less than existing seats. New A320s scheduled to enter the fleet from Mar-08 also will feature the lightweight seats. The carrier will add four seats to each of its Airbus aircraft, reducing overall pitch at the rear by about 1in. It has touted extra legroom in advertising and promotion, with seat pitch up to 33in, but the added seats are expected to help boost revenue by approximately USD10 million in the first year. Recently, the carrier started charging USD25 for paper tickets and raised the booking fee for phone reservations to USD10 from USD5. CEO Jeff Potter said the company continues to explore other revenue-producing opportunities, including "enhancing website shopping features." It plans to introduce inflight e-mail and text messaging capabilities. Meanwhile, Frontiers new regional subsidiary Lynx Aviation is expected to commence operation by Autumn-07 with new Q400s. Lynx Aviation is expected to generate an estimated USD110 million in annual revenue and provide 60%-70% feed to the overall operation. "We believe to this day we can be the lowest-cost provider with this aircraft," said Frontier CEO, Jeff Potter.

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