Economy
Ticket Prices Jump 71 Percent for America’s Largest Budget Airline Amid Soaring Fuel Costs
The country’s largest budget airline isn’t as cheap as it used to be.
According to a Wednesday, October 28 report by CNBC, Frontier Airlines saw a 71 percent increase in airfare revenue in the third quarter, amid soaring ticket prices to offset higher fuel costs. The outlet reports that while fare revenue averaged $39.74 per passenger last year, it was around $67.82 in the third quarter.
Total revenue per passenger, meanwhile, rose 30 percent, once factoring in additional costs for fees like checked and carry-on luggage.
The higher prices, however, did not affect bookings. The airliner’s passenger count actually increased 18 percent, up 1.5 million passengers from the previous year.
“At the moment, we have a nice balance between yield and volume in our business, given the supply-demand dynamic that exists in the environment, we feel pretty good about it,” Frontier CEO Jimmy Dempsey told analysts on an earnings call, per Reuters.
“If other airlines are chasing yield over volume, that’s something that’s their prerequisite. We like volume,” he added, as other airlines have reduced flight schedules and capacity. The CEO said their plan is to have 5-to-7 percent capacity growth in 2027 and 2028.
That uptick in passenger count could also possibly stem from the exit of Spirit Airlines from the budget airline space back in May.
Despite some of those gains, Frontier still posted a net loss of $104 million, compared to $77 million the previous year, per CNBC. A big factor there, however, is the airline’s fuel bill — which went up 82 percent to $425 million amid the ongoing war in Iran.
