Frontier Airlines hopes a reality show will boost its national profile, as its flight network expands across the country.
The show, called “Flight Attendant School,” focuses on eight Frontier trainees as they go through the rigors of safety and security training. The men and women who will star in the reality show spent seven weeks this summer living together in a Colorado house and joining 32 classmates in Denver for daily training.
Though many of Frontier’s customers live around its Denver hub, the airline has customers in places as far off as New York and California.
Some of those out-of-state customers may pull up Frontier flights on an online travel website, but if they haven’t heard of the airline before, they may worry that it’s a “fly-by-night” operation, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.
The airline lacks the budget to do nationwide publicity but saw the reality show as “a great opportunity for us to gain some more exposure,” Hodas said.
Filming started in July and wrapped up Wednesday. The Travel Channel will air the show later this year in 18 half-hour episodes.
The airline may be at risk if the show makes it look bad. Even so, said Frontier’s new senior vice president of marketing and planning John Happ, the decision to participate shows “what kind of confidence we have when we look in the mirror and think about the risk of showing what’s going on.”
Producers reportedly considered using America West’s flight-attendant school before choosing Frontier.
The series may make travelers appreciate the rigorous safety training that flight attendants go through, said Frontier spokeswoman Robin Wiesner. “These people are not here to just to serve peanuts and Cokes. They’re here to save lives.”
Not all of the 40 original class members graduated. That’s typical, said Chris Basore, a Frontier in-flight instructor.
In past years, about 20 percent of those who enrolled failed to finish because they left the program, failed written tests or broke rules.
Students must be punctual, for example. Being even a minute late can get them thrown out of the class.
“Having to act normal with a bunch of cameras in your face isn’t always easy,” said Sharon Turner, 23.
She had been working as a teller at Longmont’s Centennial Bank of the West when she decided to change careers.
Turner joined the training class and was selected to live in the flight-attendant house.
“I think it’ll show Frontier in a good light,” said Stacey Wells, 23.
She worked for Mesa before switching airlines and moving into the attendants’ house.
Viewers of “Flight Attendant School” will get to see Frontier’s headquarters on Tower Road, the flight-attendant house, Denver International Airport and a practice flight to Cancún.
They’ll also catch glimpses of the trainees at Water World in Federal Heights, where they went to practice deploying and using an inflatable safety raft in the wave pool.
“We really tried to make this as Denver-centric as possible,” Hodas said.
Eddie Saenz, supervising producer for GRB Entertainment, calls the show more of a “docu-soap” than a reality show. Events on the show are closer to what would happen in real life, he said, not as scripted as tribal councils on “Survivor.”
“Fortunately, these cast members are great,” said Saenz, whose company is producing the show for the Travel Channel. “They’re really interesting people.
“That’s who flight attendants are – they’re friendly, outgoing people.”
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
Q&A
John Happ, Frontier Airlines’ new senior vice president of marketing and planning, steps into the position with a wealth of experience in the airline industry and the battle scars to prove it. He comes with a mission to raise Frontier’s profile during a stage of growth amid industry-wide financial troubles.
Q: What do you think about the possibilities for Frontier branching out to other cities beyond Denver?
A: You constantly, and incessantly, look at other market opportunities. There may be an opportunity that presents itself in a month or two that we can’t necessarily see today. There’s a lot more that can be done here (at the Denver hub), and that’s principally where my focus is. At the same time, you’re always looking for other opportunities.
Q: What do you think about the lessons learned from Frontier’s failed attempt to start a mini-hub in Los Angeles last year?
A: It’s awfully tempting to look at new markets. You look at a market as large as Los Angeles and think, “All we really need is 2 percent of the market, and that would be plenty.” But the market is highly competitive in every part of this industry. It showed how important it is for a company like Frontier to be extremely careful about what we choose to take on and to be sure that we’re ready to follow through on those choices.
Q: Do you think another focus city is a possibility?
A: At some point in time, the company needs to consider growth outside of Denver. The real question is when. It could be five years from now, it could be 10 years from now. It conceivably could be never.
Q: A lot of people wonder why people want to work for the airlines, since it’s a troubled industry. Why are you still doing it?
A: I’ve questioned more than once – over the last couple of years, in particular – whether this industry has gone too far in the wrong direction. You could be or I could be the brightest, best manager, best marketer, best planner – or for that matter, (Frontier chief executive) Jeff Potter could be the best CEO in the entire industry – and there are so many forces at play here that will just chop you off at the knees. It isn’t necessarily about how well you are running your company.
There are forces at play – and jet fuel is obviously at the top of that list – that can undo almost everything. And the margins, of course, are either nonexistent or very small, relative to other industries.
If you haven’t worked in the airline industry, it’s probably hard to fully appreciate it, but it definitely gets ahold of you. It absolutely gets into your blood. And in my case, I feel like I have a lot to give.
Q: You’ve worked for regional carrier Hawaiian Airlines, ATA and now Frontier, both low-cost carriers. What is it that draws you to them rather than the legacy network carriers?
A: When you look at what is going on in the U.S. domestic airline industry today, pretty much everybody is trying to follow the overall model of low-cost carriers. So in many ways, they are at the cutting edge of where the industry has migrated.
Q: What is different about working for a carrier not in bankruptcy?
A: Well, bankruptcy is like a wet blanket. It’s so hard to maintain focus at every level in the company. You become enslaved to the process and to that dark cloak you have to operate within. It’s a difficult, difficult environment, and this industry – when we’re all on the top of our game – is tough to make any money at. So when you find yourself in that environment, it is very distracting and very, very challenging. An airline like Frontier is not worried about such things.
Q: What do you think it would mean for Frontier and for the industry if United pulled out of Denver?
A: That’s such a hypothetical question, I’m afraid to even try to answer it. It’s not going to happen. The hypothetical answer is that, in the short term, it might be good for Frontier. But in the long run, the marketplace really embraces competition and so does Frontier.
Q: What do you think is keeping the major U.S. airlines from making the changes necessary to become successful?
A: What you want to do and what you’re in a position to do – primarily financially – are often two different things right now. You’ve got half the industry just trying to survive.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi.
