Originally Posted by
lowfareair
Ah, it sounded like you were implying Frontier's Philly station as a whole failed rather than individual routes.
Agreed on coming back in a couple years to see. I doubt all 10 will still be here but also doubt it's an "almost certain bet most of these routes will soon fail" (outside of winter suspensions but coming back the next summer season).
Frontier will have to put their new planes somewhere. The fundamental problem is that their business model doesn't work very well in America these days. It's undoubtedly because they're selling a product Americans don't want to buy (how often do you stay in a Motel 6?), and the big airlines have figured out how to keep the customers these ultra low cost carriers could potentially attract. I don't see these trends changing. The low cost airlines had some initial success in huge leisure markets like Vegas and Orlando, but it's painfully obvious (even to the airlines' themselves) that these markets are tapped out. I think Frontier's latest Philly strategy is based on the idea that this is their best opportunity, but it's still not a GOOD opportunity.