Frontier curtailing seasonal service from Cleveland to 7 cities

Frontier Airlines has announced it will be curtailing seasonal flights to seven cities from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The cities where flights are being scaled back during this fall and winter schedule include among others Oregon, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Nonstop flights from Cleveland to Portland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco were added by Frontier Airlines this year, and are being discontinued temporarily. Other routes from Cleveland being suspended by the airline for the time being include Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham.

Media reports said that Frontier Airlines had been operating 14 flights from Cleveland, which is now being reduced to seven. Moreover, the number of weekly flights from Cleveland has only dropped by one or two. After making changes in its schedule, the airline will be adding extra capacity to warm-weather destinations, such as Cancun, Phoenix and Orlando.

According to the reports, Frontier Airlines had in January this year announced that it would be implementing a major expansion plan at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport by adding flights to four cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Portland. The airline had however during that time refused to disclose that these flights would in fact be seasonal. Frontier Airlines is currently the fifth largest airline in terms of passenger volume at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport after United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Jim Faulkner, a spokesman for Frontier Airlines, said, “The change in schedule and reductions in flights were part of the airline’s regular seasonal adjustments. The airline in fact starts conducting flights to warm- weather destinations swapping them with winter destinations from Northern cities. Above all, this is the period when the assets of the airline are reallocated, based on supply and demand.”

Travel experts said that the ultra-low cost carriers make adjustments in their seasonal schedules, and it’s absolutely not an unusual experience. The business model of these LCCs is strictly based on the volume of passengers and they want to operate to only those destinations from where the largest booking volume can be attracted.