Frontier Airlines’
Recent schedule documents have revealed that the budget airline plans to completely cut or potentially reduce capacity on more than 40 routes in the United States, including two to Puerto Rico.

Temporary capacity reductions

In a development first reported on BlueSky by Ishrion Aviation, Frontier Airlines has submitted its tentative schedule through April 21, 2025, which includes the cancellation of over 40 routes from various airports in the US, including some of its key bases.

This includes, but is not exclusive to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
(ATL), Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
(DFW), Denver International Airport
(DEN) and Philadelphia International Airport
(PHL).

The quartet was among the busiest airports on Frontier Airlines’ schedule in April. The airline planned 514, 262, 238 and 214 weekly flights from Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Philadelphia, respectively, according to the aviation authority’s flight planning system Diio from the analysis company Cirium.

At the same time, these changes could be network adjustments. In November, the airline announced 16 new routes, including flights from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
(AUS), Denver, Indianapolis International Airport (IND), Orlando International Airport
(MCO) and others.

Maturity bases

During Frontier Airlines’ third-quarter earnings conference call on Oct. 29, the airline’s executives admitted that there were headwinds from domestic overcapacity during the quarter and that the airline was struggling with off-peak flights.

Jimmy Dempsey, the president of Frontier Airlines, noted that the company eliminated 37% of off-peak flights during the quarter by adjusting its weekly schedules on days of higher demand while adding new routes. As a result, the revenue pool grew 17%, Dempsey noted.

“This strategy is proving to be a successful adaptation of our deployed capacity, increasing our attractiveness for VFR (visits from friends and relatives – editor’s note) and small business traffic, in addition to leisure traffic flows.”

The executive continued that off-peak traffic flows are challenging and Frontier Airlines is expected to continue to moderate Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday and Red Eye flights in 2025. The focus will be on improving revenue per available seat. The decision to move away from capacity-intensive, underperforming markets led to a sophisticated reallocation of capacity across its 13 bases.

Going forward, capacity is expected to grow in the mid-single digits, with an average leg length of 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) in 2025. In comparison, Diio data from Cirium showed that Frontier Airlines’ capacity in terms of flights increased by 14, 8% and in terms of the number of flights grew by 18.1%. Seats in 2024 versus 2023.

Competitors’ capacity plans

Data from Cirium Diio also showed that some of Frontier Airlines’ competitors, including Spirit Airlines
And JetBlue
will also adjust capacity in April 2025.

For example, Spirit Airlines has 570 fewer weekly flights scheduled year-over-year, with the airline, which began its Chapter 11 process on November 18, announcing the sale of 23 Airbus A320ceo and A321ceo aircraft in October. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the sale of an initial batch of the aircraft in late November, meaning that Spirit Airlines will have to cut capacity one way or another due to a significant change in the number of aircraft it will continue to have function.

Meanwhile, JetBlue, which launched its “JetForward” strategy in July, has been making network readjustments with a particular focus on its East Coast leisure network.

Data showed that only 45 weekly flights will be added compared to last year, resulting in a weekly seat increase of 2.3% in April 2025. Some airports, such as New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) or Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX) will see major cuts later this month.

Locations including San Antonio International Airport (SAT), Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR), Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE), and even London Gatwick Airport
(LGW) will not offer JetBlue flights at least through April 2025.

The airline’s most recent update to investors on Dec. 4 included improved fourth-quarter and full-year guidance due to positive travel trends following the U.S. election and during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“For December travel, bookings in the quarter exceeded previous expectations in both peak and off-peak seasons. “JetBlue’s 2024 revenue initiatives are expected to generate cumulative benefits of over $300 million in the fourth quarter, supported by preferred seating, Blue Basic carry-on policy change and other initiatives.”

JetBlue also highlighted that JetForward has already led to improvements in operational reliability, with on-time performance improving 12% year-over-year in October and 7% in November.