Frontier Airlines to end Great Falls-Denver flights next summer

Frontier Airlines recently announced it is going to end direct flights to Denver from Great Falls next summer. The airline decided to finally stop its services because the route was not profitable as it had earlier expected.

The decision of the airline has also been confirmed by Laura Tait, Deputy Director for Operations at Great Falls International Airport. Tait said that except for July and part of August this year, the discount carrier wasn’t able to attract enough passengers it had hoped to fly. The route had therefore become unsustainable.

Though the airline had resolved not to continue with its flight operations, the business travelers and Great Falls airport officials effusively praised Frontier Airlines to unleash stiff competition and prompt the rival carriers to significantly lower their fares here. The increased competition also helped the airport in achieving the lowest average roundtrip tickets among Montana airports.

Tait said that with the airline stopping its operations out of the airport now, the airport officials and business leaders will start working on the modalities on how to attract other low-cost carriers for starting operations from Great Falls.
 
A spokesperson of Frontier Airlines said that the airline had implemented a new business model and deployed bigger 140-seat aircrafts, which were flown on the Denver-Great Falls route for the past few years. The spokesperson said that the airline was not performing well on the route despite its new business model.

Todd Lehmacher, Corporate Communications Director of Frontier Airlines, said that the airline’s decision not to continue with its services in Great Falls had been difficult indeed. This has been done only after studying the feasibility of the route.