Denver Gate Deal Permits Frontier, United To Grow Presence

"This is great for everybody involved," said Cheryl Cohen-Vader, chief deputy director of the airport. "United gets the regional jet facility. Frontier gets the gates they need and wanted really badly - and in a shorter amount of time than the alternative. And a lot more planes will be flying in and out of the airport."

Details of the agreement

United will vacate its six gates on Concourse A, where it operates flights of its discount arm, Ted. Those operations will be consolidated to five Concourse B gates, where United is installing bridges that allow passengers to load and unload from the back and front doors of an airplane.

Frontier, during the next year, will take over the six gates on Concourse A, where all of its flights at DIA are based.

DIA will spend $41.5 million to upgrade and expand United's regional jet facility on the east end of Concourse B. The new facility will have 12 more gates for regional jets and six fewer for turboprop operations, where passengers walk onto the tarmac to board planes.

The airport also will pay off, in annual increments, $110 million in debt related to United's failed automated baggage system. The move will lower United's costs by about $10 million a year.

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