Frontier Airlines no longer plans to start its turboprop service Oct. 1, reporting yet another delay in the startup of its Lynx Aviation subsidiary to fly turboprops to Rocky Mountain region destinations.
It’s a costly delay. Frontier estimates its pre-operating expenses for Lynx in the December quarter will be about $8 million.
Lynx was supposed to start operations with Q400 turboprops on Oct. 1 with flights to Wichita and Billings, followed by flights to Sioux City and Rapid City to start Oct. 5.
But Frontier said because of a delay in Federal Aviation Administration certification for Lynx, Lynx’s Q400 aircraft will not be able to fly those routes and Frontier will use other planes to fly them.
It’s not the first delay Lynx has experienced before it has even gotten up in the air. Frontier had originally hoped to start Lynx flights around July, but that was delayed until September. When Frontier announced its first Lynx routes, the start date was October.
Now, Frontier said it will serve those routes with E170 and CRJ-700 regional jets from its regional carriers Republic Airways and Horizon Air, according to a backup plan in case of a delay in certification. Frontier said it could also use its Airbus planes if needed.
Frontier has been planning to announce routes to mountain resort destinations such as Aspen, but that too has been delayed.
Reach Denver Post staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi at (303) 954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com
