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UA Calls Frontier’s Expansion “Great News”… That The Airline Is Failing

United Airlines President Scott Kirby used the company’s quarterly earnings call to tell investors why Frontier’s aggressive expansion in hotly contested markets is actually good news.

United Airlines President Scott Kirby doesn’t seem too worried about Frontier Airlines’ announcement this week that it will greatly expand its route map to compete head-to-head with the legacy carrier on many of its most profitable routes. Kirby likewise shrugged off the ultra-low-fare carrier’s promise to undercut United with one-way introductory fares as low as $39 on some flights.

During an earnings call to investors on Wednesday,  Kirby referred to Frontier’s ambitious expansion plans as “the best news I’ve heard in ten years.” The United Airlines executive told the company’s stakeholders that the move by the Denver-based no-frills airline is a clear signal that the competitor is abandoning a failing business model of flying passengers only from point A to Point B and will now attempt to compete by employing a hub-style route map. Kirby indicated that United would have little trouble competing with the much smaller rival on this playing field.

“I’ve believed for many years that the ultra-low-cost carrier business model can’t work when a network carrier decides to compete on price,” Kirby said during the Q and A portion of the earnings call. “This is the first public validation that one of the ULCCs [ultra low cost carriers] has thrown in the towel on the point-to-point business model. I can promise you that they are now competing on our turf as a network carrier in Denver. That is a battle I guarantee United will win.”

A day earlier, Frontier announced that it would expand its route map to cover 90 percent of the US public, adding 21 new destinations and 85 new routes. Much of that expansion will involve new flights to and from the airline’s Denver International Airport (DEN) base, which also happens to be one of United’s most profitable hubs.

Frontier officials dismissed Kirby’s public comments as sour grapes, telling Business Insider that the carrier’s rapid growth by no means signals a changing business model. “Kirby’s statement simply isn’t true,” the airline said in a statement. “Frontier currently offers connections over Denver, and always has, so this isn’t a change in the business.”

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2 Comments
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skidooman August 21, 2017

United, stop talking, and just act. Think you can do better? OK, prove it. Let your deeds speak for themselves. You may win by offering a better service than Frontier. Something people will recognize and will pay more for.

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WebTraveler July 22, 2017

Isn't this a repeat to what Frontier used to do? Fly everyone through Denver? Now its going full circle