As Frontier Airlines chief executive Jeff Potter prepares to step down, names of potential candidates for his position are emerging among industry-watchers.
Among them is former Frontier chief operating officer Sean Menke, who is executive vice president of commercial strategy at Air Canada and recently moved back to Denver with his wife and three children while continuing to travel for his job with the Montreal- based airline.
“There’s been a lot of speculation, not only with Sean’s name but with some other names,” said Potter, who declined to say whom the company is considering. “The board’s goal is to have someone named by our (Sept. 6) shareholders meeting.”
Menke helped create Frontier’s “A whole different animal” branding and advertising campaign and has moved up in the ranks since joining Air Canada from Frontier in 2005.
Another person seen as a possible fit is Jeff Pinneo, chief executive of Horizon Air, which has been Frontier’s regional carrier through an ongoing transition to a new regional carrier, Republic Airlines.
“I think (Pinneo)’s done a terrific job at Horizon,” Potter said. “He has a very, very strong culture at Horizon. … We seem to have a very similar culture.”
Pinneo and Menke are “two terrific people,” Potter said. “I know them both well, consider them both friends, and they’re both extraordinarily strong leaders.”
Pinneo is “probably one of the best regional (airline) CEOs in the country,” while Air Canada is one of the most successful turnarounds of a legacy carrier, in large part as a result of U.S. executives such as Menke, said Douglas Abbey, partner at the Velocity Group, an aviation consulting firm.
Frontier, meanwhile, has suffered a stock-price decline and hasn’t been able to maintain consistent profitability while facing increased competition in Denver.
Internally, Frontier’s high-profile leaders include senior vice president of operations Chris Collins, chief financial officer Paul Tate and senior vice president of marketing and planning John Happ.
“There are internal candidates that are very capable,” Potter said. “But it’s funny – if you go with an internal candidate, you’re almost faced with a similar situation of trying to fill that position.”
Collins, who joined Frontier from JetBlue, has said the two airlines have a lot of cultural similarities, Potter said.
Potter said the board wants someone who will keep the executive team in place.
“You don’t want to disrupt some of the momentum that’s going on both as an organization but also culturally,” he said.
Frontier’s board is not using an executive-search firm to find a new CEO, choosing to conduct the search on its own. Potter is leaving the airline to lead luxury destination club Exclusive Resorts.
Potter said Frontier’s board is confident in plans for its turboprop subsidiary Lynx Aviation and its international expansion and that he does not expect any change to those strategies.
“At the same time, in other areas … I want a person who will continue to look at different options and different opportunities from a strategic perspective – almost a fresh set of eyes,” Potter said.
Meanwhile, Potter’s departure, which was announced shortly after Frontier chairman Sam Addoms said he would step down, has furthered speculation that the company is an acquisition target or needs to reconsider its strategy.
For Frontier, “I think staying the course is like controlled flight into terrain,” said aviation consultant Bob Mann. “They’ve got serious issues with United and with Southwest.”
“There’s a strategic issue that needs to be addressed,” Mann said. “I think anybody who comes in looking from a strategic perspective will put all the sacred cows under the microscope.”
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
