Frontier Airlines to end Chicago O’Hare service from Cleveland

Frontier Airlines recently announced it will end its nonstop flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport being currently operated from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The airline, which has been until now operating 3 to 4 times per week, will stop operating from January 2, 2015.

Todd Lehmacher, spokesman of Frontier Airlines, said that the flights to Chicago O’Hare will not be resumed in the future unless market conditions in Cleveland are thoroughly assessed. The resuming of flights will also largely depend on the response of the rival carriers and changes in schedules.

Lehmacher said that the airline has always wanted to grow in Cleveland market. This though mostly depends on finding the right number of destinations as well as the number of flights which could be operated profitably. He said that great opportunities still exist in Cleveland and just waiting to be tapped. Frontier Airlines also harbor a strong desire to be acknowledged as the hometown airline.

Earlier, the airline had indicated that it will stop operating nonstop flights to Trenton-Mercer Airport, Washington-Dulles International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport from Cleveland Hopkins in coming weeks.

Apart from losing Frontier Airlines, Cleveland will also face a major loss with United Airlines also deciding to stop nonstop flights to Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Dallas/Fort Worth from here in early spring.

United Airlines had announced in February this year that it would be drastically curtailing its operations out of Cleveland Hopkins by two-thirds and would also be dismantling this hub itself.