February 11, 2012

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "Frontier Airlines to end Aspen service in April"

Chad Abraham:

"Frontier Airlines will end its Aspen service on April 16, a move that will eliminate 16 percent of the daily number of seats coming into Sardy Field and one that sets the stage for costlier airfares.

Aspen tourism officials were disappointed by Friday’s announcement but not surprised given Frontier’s $120 million restructuring following the company’s bankruptcy filing in 2008.

For months, Frontier, which lost $90 million in the first quarter of 2011, has been trying to sell its four-plane fleet of Bombardier Q-400 turboprops as part of cost-cutting measures. They are the company’s only aircraft capable of flying into Aspen’s small airport.

“This was a matter of when, not if,” said Bill Tomcich, president of reservations agency Stay Aspen Snowmass, of Frontier’s exit from Aspen. “We’ve known for a long time that these aircraft would disappear.”

Tomcich, who also serves as Aspen’s liaison to airlines, said it was not clear whether the company had sold the four planes or decided that they were simply too inefficient to continue operating..." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

No comments: