Frontier Airlines confirmed today that it will build its new heavy maintenance hangar in Colorado Springs, and that it will begin flying between Denver and Colorado Springs next spring.
The hangar is a $25 million, 100,000 square-foot development on about 11 acres that will employ about 225 people. Construction is expected to be completed in 2009. Frontier plans to get financing for the construction through a tax-exempt special facility bond offered through the city of Colorado Springs. The incentives Colorado Springs is offering to Frontier include a full rebate of personal property tax for construction and full relief of sales and use tax for maintenance operations at the hangar.
The choice of Colorado Springs for the hangar is disappointing to Denver officials who had tried to get Frontier to keep its heavy maintenance operations at Denver International Aiport. DIA put together an incentive package including tax caps and Frontier employees wanted the work to stay in Denver, but Colorado Springs had a better financial offer.
Though Frontier is a family-oriented company, “I am focused on bottom-line, sustainable profitability,” said Frontier chief executive Sean Menke.
The aircraft parts sales and use tax in Denver “is onerous,” said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.
But what many in Colorado Springs are more excited about is Frontier’s plan to start flying between Denver and Colorado Springs by late spring. It could be four or five flights a day, according to Menke. Colorado Springs officials have been wanting a low-cost carrier like Frontier to start service at their airport, hoping it will spur more connections to other parts of the country and more business opportunities.
“This is something that we’ve been looking for a long time,” said Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera.
Frontier’s startup turboprop operation Lynx Aviation, which has encountered delays and has not yet gotten federal certification to start, is seen as a good fit for a Denver-Colorado Springs route, though Frontier hasn’t made a final decision on whether it will use Lynx or other planes on the route.
Colorado Springs officials hope to lure some of Frontier’s mechanics in Denver to the Springs, and some who are not willing to move may lose their positions.
