Westminster – As Lynx Aviation begins training its first employees, president Tom Nunn is already dealing with delays.
The airline’s first turboprop plane was promised in May but is now expected in June or July. As a result, its first flights will start around September instead of in July.
In the interim, Nunn is busy pursuing the startup’s airworthiness certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, establishing offices and hiring enough employees to get the airline up and running.
Lynx now employs about 60. By the end of the year, it plans to employ about 400 and operate about 70 daily flights.
Created last year by Frontier Airlines to provide short-haul flights, the airline moved into its headquarters in a Westminster business park in December.
The headquarters is still a work in progress. A white board in the lobby reading “Welcome to Lynx Aviation” is flanked by folding chairs, stacks of boxes and a wooden tray table.
Interviews take place in makeshift offices, while Nunn works out of a temporary office with a used desk from furniture liquidators.
While Frontier is a low-cost carrier, Lynx is structured for even lower costs in everything from employee pay to flight operations.
It has ordered 10 Q400 planes and has options on another 10. The planes seat up to 74 and will make eight to 10 short flights a day, while Frontier jets seat up to 132 and average four longer flights a day, Nunn said.
Lynx is drawing pilots who specialize in mountain flying because the carrier will fly to mountain airports.
It has not yet announced where it will fly.
Nunn also has plans for the company to do contract flying and other work for other carriers, expanding parent company Frontier Airlines Holdings’ profile to a broader national operation.
That would make Lynx a regional carrier for other airlines, much like SkyWest is for United Airlines’ United Express operation.
“It’s definitely something that is in our business model,” Nunn said.
Lynx has approvals to do contract work and is doing ground work for Horizon Air in Tulsa.
Meanwhile, Nunn is looking for a location for a maintenance facility for Lynx, in Denver or elsewhere. That could influence routes the carrier will fly.
“The Lynx expansion is going to provide a terrific opportunity for smaller communities all throughout this region,” Colorado Springs Airport director Mark Earle said.
With Lynx set to add more regional flights, Frontier and Denver International Airport have discussed the potential for a new regional-jet facility.
In an e-mailed statement, DIA manager Turner West said, “We believe we have met Frontier’s immediate needs. We have agreed to meet with Frontier regularly to discuss all issues on the table, including future gate needs.”
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
