Frontier Airlines is cutting six of its routes from Denver as it ends its contract with Republic Airways, its regional carrier.
Denver-based Frontier, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, is undergoing a major restructuring to adjust to high fuel costs.
It will discontinue service from Denver to Sioux City, Iowa, on May 12; to Jacksonville, Fla., on May 31; and to Little Rock, Ark.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Tulsa, Okla., on June 1. Further, Frontier will not start a Denver-Missoula, Mont., route that was scheduled to begin May 16.
A total of 14 round-trip flights will be cut from Frontier’s schedule of about 160 round trips daily. Jobs will be cut in those markets where service is ending, Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.
The phasing out of the agreement with Republic by the end of June will remove 12 76-seat Embraer 170 jets from the fleet that Frontier uses.
“This is about fuel,” Hodas said. “I think all carriers are looking at things they wouldn’t normally do if . . . (oil) wasn’t at $118 a barrel.”
Republic Airways has been Frontier’s regional jet carrier since last year with a contract struck under Frontier’s then-chief executive Jeff Potter.
Republic, which has about 215 employees in Denver, was to ramp up to 17 aircraft in the Frontier partnership within two years. Indianapolis-based Republic plans to file a damage claim for about $260 million, and the amount Republic recovers will be determined by the bankruptcy court.
“One benefit of this bankruptcy (for Frontier) is they can abrogate the contract, which they couldn’t have otherwise,” Evergreen-based aviation consultant Mike Boyd said. “In this day and age, the smaller the jet, the tougher it is to make money.”
Frontier has had a regional jet carrier since 2002.
The switch of regional carriers from Horizon to Republic combined with the use of an interim regional carrier, ExpressJet, while waiting for the delayed startup of Lynx contributed to a record $32.5 million loss for Frontier in the quarter ended in December.
Frontier lost about $11.2 million in the quarter that ended in March under the Republic deal, and it expects to save more than $20 million a year annually by rejecting the agreement.
“Is this the final and only thing we need to do? No,” Hodas said. “But it is a good and important step.”
Kelly Yamanouchi: 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com
