Feb. 7—The off-again, on-again relationship between Denver-based Frontier Airlines and Fresno Yosemite International Airport appears to be off again, marking the third time in 15 years that the low-cost carrier has pulled out of the Fresno market.
Frontier's latest return to Fresno was in the spring of 2018, when it began offering two nonstop flights a week to and from Denver. On the airline's website booking tool, however, the last available Frontier flight out of Fresno will be on March 3.
Flights between other city pairs on Frontier's route network remain available after March 3, the airline's website shows. Frontier representatives could not be reached Monday morning to address questions about the airline's Fresno service.
Over the first 10 months of 2021, Frontier reported carrying 13,618 passengers on its flights from Fresno to Denver — just over 2% of the total volume of passengers flying from Fresno on all U.S. airlines serving the city, according to data from the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The average load factor for all departing domestic flights from Fresno over the same period was 79.12, or just under 80% of seats filled. For Frontier, the 10-month average was less than 75%, dipping to as low as 68.5% in October 2021.
Frontier Airlines' first foray into the Fresno market was in August 2005 with two flights per day to Denver. Less than two years later, Frontier officials cited low passenger numbers and financial losses for its decision to discontinue service in June 2007. "We don't often pull out of markets. It was a difficult decision, but one that we had to make," a Frontier spokesperson told The Bee at that time. "Ridership has fallen off dramatically over the last year."
The airline returned in May 2013, this time offering three flights weekly between Fresno and Denver and later increasing service to four days a week. But Frontier officials pulled the plug on the route in January 2015, describing it as "suspending" service.
Frontier's departure from Fresno will leave passengers with two other airlines offering nonstop flights to and from Denver: United Airlines, with three daily flights, and Southwest Airlines, which currently schedules one daily nonstop flight.
Merger with Spirit Airlines
Frontier executives announced early Monday that they had engineered a proposed merger with Florida-based Spirit Airlines, another budget air carrier.
Officials from both companies said they expected the merger would allow them to better compete with larger airlines and increase their ability to serve more cities while offering lower fares to customers.
Frontier representatives could not be reached Monday to address whether the planned merger is a factor in decisions over its Fresno- Denver service.
In terms of available passenger seat miles flown on its routes, Spirit Airlines is ranked seventh among U.S. air carriers, followed by eighth-ranked Frontier, the companies said in a conference call Monday.
If the merger is ultimately approved by Spirit shareholders as well as federal regulators, the combined airline would rank fifth in available seat miles behind American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines — each of which continues to provide service to and from Fresno from various cities across the western United States.
The companies said they expect the deal to be finalized in the second half of 2022.
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