Frontier, Midwest To Start Codesharing
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By Andrew Compart
Denver-based Frontier and Milwaukee-based Midwest plan to begin code sharing in late summer, which could be a prelude to even closer cooperation between the carriers if Republic Airways Holdings consummates its deals to acquire them both.
Frontier and Midwest said their deal also will include frequent flyer program reciprocity.
Separately, in an interview at a conference in Miami for low-cost carriers from North, Central and South America, Republic’s VP Market Planning Jeff Jones squashed the notion that Republic’s deals to acquire both Frontier and Midwest are part of some grand plan.
“The plan was to diversify in a way that not all of our eggs are in the fixed-fee basket,” Jones said. Buying an established brand to do that, he said, is “far better than starting from scratch.” He called the timing of the deals “coincidental.”
But Jones also said Republic would try to take advantage of owning both carriers — not just with their complementary networks — but also by combining back office functions where possible. That could include functions such as accounting, purchasing, marketing, sales and reservations, he added.
Jones also squashed the notion of any flying under Republic’s own brand. And he insisted that Republic’s fixed-fee flying partners, such as United and Delta, are not balking at the prospect of Republic owning airlines that compete against them. In any case, he said, nothing in the Republic regional subsidiary contracts with those carriers would let them terminate the contracts on that basis.
This all assumes both of those deals go through. The Frontier deal still is subject to a bankruptcy court-supervised auction process that could result in a higher bidder, and the Midwest deal is subject to regulatory approvals.
Photo: Airbus
