Frontier Launches $19 Nonstop Flights to New Orleans

Frontier recently announced 17 new nonstop routes from different airports across the United States, some of which at price points as low as $19.

New Orleans Network Growth 

Besides from New Orleans to Indianapolis, Frontier launched nonstop flights from New Orleans to Columbus, Ohio. Currently, the airline operates nonstop flights from New Orleans to five cities: Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, and Raleigh-Durham. With Frontier's addition of two more nonstop flights out of New Orleans, it raised its presence from five to seven. As for New Orleans airport, there will now be nonstop flights to 55 destinations globally.

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Overall Network Adjustments

Frontier's launch of 17 new routes comes in a shake-up as the airline is also eliminating 16 routes as a part of a restructuring effort to increase profitability. The airline is shifting its attention toward some of the United States' largest hub airports such as Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare. Such route additions include airports with existing Spirit Airlines service, such as Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Houston (IAH) and Portland (PDX) to Salt Lake City (SLC). However, there are also routes connecting large airport hubs to smaller cities, such as Atlanta to Grand Rapids along with Phoenix-Sky Harbor to Missoula.

Josh Flyr, Frontier's Vice President of network and operations design, claims that "increasing the number of cities with an ultra-low fare option helps ensure even more customers can take to the skies this year to visit friends and family or experience a new destination on their travel wish list." Many of these flights are expected to begin by May 1, 2024. 

As for Frontier's route cuts, Las Vegas and Orlando are the most affected. Six routes will be cut from Orlando and four will be cut from Las Vegas. Furthermore, two cities (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Los Cabos, Mexico) will be terminated from Frontier's network altogether. Frontier cited difficulties in competing against other airlines in oversaturated leisure markets, which it has done well in previously. Frontier CEO Barry Biffle claims "no one is more aggressive in engaging in self-help to address overcapacity in leisure markets than Frontier."

Historically, leisure markets such as Las Vegas and Orlando have allowed ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier to perform well in them. These airlines can drive demand with very low ticket prices. However, in recent years, legacy airlines have also expanded in these markets while simultaneously offering low ticket prices. Instead of trying to improve its customer sentiment towards itself, Frontier decided it would be better to just "slash marginal unprofitable flying" in both Las Vegas and Orlando. 

Now, Frontier's new strategy is to attract a new segment of traffic: “Visiting Family and Relatives” (VFR). Barry Biffle believes that "high-yield VFR markets should mature faster and should yield profitability sooner than the oversupplied leisure markets that Frontier is exiting."