News
Entertainment
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Frontier Airlines, which recently announced it was vacating the Grand Junction market, notched its highest passenger counts last month since its opening period in 2008 at the airport, a report showed Thursday.
The financially troubled airlines carried a total of 3,789 passengers in and out of Grand Junction Regional Airport in June. That marked the highest total since opening in May 2008, when Frontier recorded 4,156 passengers for the month.
Frontier spokesman Steve Snyder said the increase in passenger counts was largely the result of fare sales.
“It's a very competitive environment out there right,” Snyder said. “Since the beginning of the year we've had some really great fares.”
That would go a long way in explaining the carrier's performance in the second quarter of this year in which passenger counts steadily climbed.
The airline had a total of 2,608 passengers in April and 3,082 in May. The June counts were about 6 percent higher than the 3,574 passengers for June 2008, according to airport data.
“It started to come around … over a year later,” said airport manager Rex Tippetts.
Frontier, which offers three flights a day to Denver, plans to ease its way out of Grand Junction. The airline is scheduled to cut back to two flights per day beginning Aug. 22. The final flight is an outbound Sept. 14 to Denver.
When Frontier announced in February 2008 it was establishing the Grand Junction to Denver route the move took many in the area by surprise.
“It brought a lot of seats into a market this size,” Tippetts said. “They almost doubled the number of seats.”
In hindsight it was an ambitious move at best.
“Obviously it didn't perform up to our expectations,” Synder said. “At the time it made sense given our expansion into other Colorado markets.”
He said the route did not pan out for many reasons, including the accessibility of Grand Junction. Frontier announced last month it was abandoning Grand Junction.
“We found there are people who are still choosing other modes of transportation,” Snyder said.
Meanwhile the carrier is poised to emerge from bankruptcy in fall provided it clears some remaining hurdles, including a court hearing Monday. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District is expected to rule on the company's reorganization plan.
The plan, in part, calls for Republic Airways Holdings to buy the Denver-based Frontier. The cost is estimated at $108.75 million.
Frontier filed for bankruptcy in April 2008.
The financially troubled airlines carried a total of 3,789 passengers in and out of Grand Junction Regional Airport in June. That marked the highest total since opening in May 2008, when Frontier recorded 4,156 passengers for the month.
Frontier spokesman Steve Snyder said the increase in passenger counts was largely the result of fare sales.
“It's a very competitive environment out there right,” Snyder said. “Since the beginning of the year we've had some really great fares.”
That would go a long way in explaining the carrier's performance in the second quarter of this year in which passenger counts steadily climbed.
The airline had a total of 2,608 passengers in April and 3,082 in May. The June counts were about 6 percent higher than the 3,574 passengers for June 2008, according to airport data.
“It started to come around … over a year later,” said airport manager Rex Tippetts.
Frontier, which offers three flights a day to Denver, plans to ease its way out of Grand Junction. The airline is scheduled to cut back to two flights per day beginning Aug. 22. The final flight is an outbound Sept. 14 to Denver.
When Frontier announced in February 2008 it was establishing the Grand Junction to Denver route the move took many in the area by surprise.
“It brought a lot of seats into a market this size,” Tippetts said. “They almost doubled the number of seats.”
In hindsight it was an ambitious move at best.
“Obviously it didn't perform up to our expectations,” Synder said. “At the time it made sense given our expansion into other Colorado markets.”
He said the route did not pan out for many reasons, including the accessibility of Grand Junction. Frontier announced last month it was abandoning Grand Junction.
“We found there are people who are still choosing other modes of transportation,” Snyder said.
Meanwhile the carrier is poised to emerge from bankruptcy in fall provided it clears some remaining hurdles, including a court hearing Monday. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District is expected to rule on the company's reorganization plan.
The plan, in part, calls for Republic Airways Holdings to buy the Denver-based Frontier. The cost is estimated at $108.75 million.
Frontier filed for bankruptcy in April 2008.
