Two dozen full- and part-time customer-service employees will be out of jobs when Frontier Airlines halts its Aspen service on April 16.
Twenty-five pilots and 27 flight attendants will be moved to other aircraft in the Republic Airways system. Indianapolis-based Republic is the parent company of Frontier.
“For the 24 customer-service employees, we will work to help move any of the impacted employees into other positions across our network, so the number furloughed could be less than 24,” said Frontier spokeswoman Lindsey Carpenter .
The four remaining Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes used in the four-times-daily service between Denver and Aspen are no longer cost-effective to operate and will be parked until they can be sold or leased, Carpenter said.
No other aircraft in Republic’s fleet can navigate the tricky mountainous airspace around Aspen’s Sardy Field.
The end of Frontier’s service is disappointing, but not surprising to Aspen officials. Frontier’s situation was termed “tenuous” last year by Bill Tomich , the airline liaison in his role as president of reservations agency Stay Aspen Snowmass.
The Frontier situation led Aspen officials to attract American Eagle’s twice-daily flights last year. Tomich said Frontier’s departure will make the Aspen market more attractive to American and United, which has service to Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.
Tomich, who said he hopes Frontier’s service is just a suspension, told the Aspen Daily News that the move will eliminate 16 percent of the daily number of seats coming into Aspen.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
