Frontier's Lynx still awaiting FAA's OK

Oct. 4, 2007

Frontier Airlines must further revise documents and procedures related to its new turboprop subsidiary, likely delaying federal certification of the operation until at least November.

The Denver-based carrier last month requested - and received - a face-to-face meeting with Federal Aviation Administration officials to help accelerate the process of getting the subsidiary approved.

But the FAA said it still had too many questions and issues to clear up at the Sept. 27 meeting.

Frontier now is making a third revision to the training manuals, procedural documents and other materials related to its Lynx Aviation operation.

The carrier has until midmonth to make those revisions, and the FAA has up to three weeks to review the changes.

"We have more comments and edits that need to be incorporated," said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the FAA. "When they come back with a third revision, we will . . . review the possibility of another meeting to resolve" the process.

The FAA grants face-to- face meetings with airlines once it has fewer than 200 comments related to the approval process.

The agency has said there is no one issue holding up approval, emphasizing that the process just takes time.

Frontier formed Lynx to branch out to smaller cities, as well as nearby mountain and resort towns, using Q400 turboprop planes.

It scheduled Lynx to start flying several routes starting this week but bagged those plans because the FAA approval process has taken longer than expected.

The carrier is using other planes to handle the new routes until it receives FAA approval.

It recently cemented a deal to have regional carrier ExpressJet temporarily fly some of the new routes starting in mid-November, in case Lynx still isn't approved by then.