Frontier Airlines is celebrating their 19th anniversary this year.  Frontier Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc, an airline holding company that also owns Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines, and Shuttle America.  Frontier operates its primary hub at Denver International Airport. Today, Frontier operates more than 350 daily flights, serves more than 75 destinations in the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico; and employs more than 4,500 professionals.

History

Frontier Airlines began as a local service airline, operating out of Denver’s Stapleton Airport, on November 27, 1946.  At that time it was known as Monarch Airlines, which serviced Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.  In 1950, Monarch Airlines merged with Arizona Airways, and Challenger Airlines, becoming Frontier Airlines.  Frontier then served the Rocky Mountain area, 40 cities in total, with 12 Douglas DC-3s in its fleet.  The airline carried millions of passengers over the years and had a reputation for great service and an outstanding safety record.  The airline declared bankruptcy in 1986,  and was subsequently purchased by Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. Then, in August of 1993, executives derived a plan to give Frontier Airlines a fresh start while looking to fill a huge gap left by Continental Airlines’ drastic cutback on flights to Denver’s International airport.  In November of the same year, executives finished the business plan to create the “new” Frontier Airlines.

1994: the beginning!

• February 8, 1994

The new company was incorporated as Frontier Airlines

• March 15. 1994

The new headquarters office opened with a staff of 22, on a sunny and chilly day in Denver, celebrating the milestone with a nice juicy steak.

• July 5, 1994

Take off! Frontier launches their first flights. Operations begin with two Boeing 737-200s on routes linking Denver to Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot, N.D. Champagne was served.

1999 – 2004: the wonder years!

• July 5, 1999

Frontier celebrated their fifth anniversary of flight operations, having carried approximately 5.8 million passengers since July 1994. Employees: 1,700.

• 2004

The fleet gets a makeover, with each plane getting a wild animal painted on the tail.  There are over 50 different animals with unique personalities in all.

• May 6, 2004

EarlyReturns® mileage program places in the top three in five categories at the 2004 Freddie Awards for frequent flyer programs. The awards came after Frontier’s “Talking Animals” advertising campaign which won widespread critical accolades in 2004, including the Denver Advertising Federation’s (DAF) “Fame and Fortune” Award, four New York Festival Awards, nine Mobius Awards and one Cresta Award.

2005-2009: into the wild blue yonder!

• July 1, 2005

For the third consecutive year, Travel + Leisure magazine recognized Frontier Airlines as one of readers’ “Top 10 Domestic Airlines” in its World’s Best Awards.

• Nov. 3, 2005

The Department of Transportation released the “On Time Arrival Performance” report ranking all carriers at the 33 largest airports in America, and Frontier ranked #1 with 92.1% of flights arriving on time.

• Nov. 30, 2006

Frontier is named the best U.S. low-cost carrier by the readers of Business Traveler magazine.

• Dec. 24, 2007

Frontier Airlines received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for best use of On Demand Technology.

• March 31, 2009

Frontier wins its tenth consecutive award for excellence in safety and training from the FAA. A record number of our maintenance and engineering employees win the Diamond Award of Excellence.

A green FRONTIER

Frontier Airlines takes pride in their green initiatives.   They are setting themselves apart from other airlines.  Their fleet is newer and more fuel-efficient than the average domestic fleet by 25%. They are working on reducing fuel consumption, and therefore emissions, by becoming more efficient.  They recycle 80% of aluminum cans from flights and virtually 100% of cardboard products.

Anniversary Celebration

Frontier is celebrating their 19th birthday this year by offering 19% off fares for travel on July 4th and 5th, 2013.

Congratulations to Frontier Airlines on 19 successful years of service!