Q: Who chose the name Lynx Aviation for Frontier’s new short-flight Q400 turboprop service?
A: Believe it or not, it was our general counsel, David Sislow ski. He’s the class clown. We were sitting in his office one day, talking about Larry the Lynx, and all of a sudden he started putting it together.
The name plays on Larry; it plays on the L-I-N-K-S – because we are linking to Frontier; it just made sense. So right away he’s on the computer to see if it’s a name that’s available. Sure enough, it was. The official name is Lynx Aviation Inc. The general public isn’t going to see the name very much, though. What they’re going to see is Frontier Express.
Q: Why does Frontier want to expand with smaller planes on shorter flights?
A: If we can operate those 650-mile-or-less segments at 30 percent reduced operating costs, now all of a sudden cities where it wasn’t economically viable (with a regional jet) become very viable for us. Our profit margins are always very small, so a 30 percent reduction in your operating costs provides you a lot more opportunity than you would have seen with a jet.
Q: For in-flight entertainment, how do you know what people want?
A: It’s the 650-mile segment, so you’re talking something in the area of under 2 hours. Our research on mainline aircraft shows that on segments under 2 hours, the demand for the pay-per-view movies or the Direc TV is much less than on those segments of greater length. Our customers have already told us that’s not where they want the DirecTV entertainment.
That doesn’t mean we won’t do some other form of entertainment at some point, but no decision has been made.
Q: How has your career taken you to this point?
A: I got out of high school and spent a two-year enlistment in the Marine Corps based in Washington, D.C., doing Capitol and White House security. When I got out, I went to college until I was hired by Western Airlines in Minneapolis, which doesn’t exist anymore. I worked the graveyard shift doing wheels and brakes on 727 and 737 aircraft, spent roughly three years with them and ended up being furloughed.
I went back to school and, as soon as I graduated, got on with Northwest Airlines. I spent 18 years there. In early 2001, I was contacted by Frontier and decided this was a company I would love to work for.
Q: Are there any lessons that you still use in your current profession from your first job as a janitor?
A: Take pride in what you do, no matter what it is.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi.
