Haha, Will Do! Its a good thing I never worked for SkyWest or I would have literally drown in the Koolaid from that place. (Virtual basing! --haha)

I'll admit that I am an optimistic person (probably why Frontier hired me.) Anyhow, I am optimistic that the Denver base will be around for a long time and it will remain the largest base. Will it shrink in the future? I would bet money on it. Will it be half the size it is now? I don't think it'll shrink that much.

The email we just got said that they plan to double the size of the Chicago base (from about 35 to 70 crews) and eventually look for an east coast base down the road. The Denver base currently has over 300 crews, so them expanding Chicago by 30-35 crews is not a huge change. I have been preaching on this forum for a year that we will get an east coast base. So i'm not sure just how drunk on Koolaid I am. (I live in Denver and want to stay here). Lets assume that Chicago grows by 35 crews, and 6 months from now they open a new base and make it the same size as Chicago. That means that there will be about 100 crews not based in Denver. Out of our current 350+ crews, its not really the end of Denver.

Here is a link to the current route map: http://www.flyfrontier.com/plan-book...%20110414.ashx

Looking at the route map you can see how badly the company needs a pilot base on the east coast. Its a no brainer, its going to happen. When it does it'll be a mixed bag. For the guys who live in Denver and don't want to leave, its not so good. On the other hand, an east coast base will likely shorten up the upgrade time substantially. There are lots of senior FOs who will not upgrade into any other domicile. That will allow much more junior FOs the ability to upgrade to captain on the east coast and chicago.

There is no doubt that Frontier is making Denver less of its focus... it used to be the only focus.. and that didn't make much money or sense. This new business model is not great for the pilots who live in Denver, but it probably makes more sense for the longterm viability of this airline than anything they have ever done before. The old denver based Frontier is going away, but its giving way to a much more profitable, stable airline.

The current plan is to hire around 100 pilots in 2015. If I'm right about Chiago growing and an east coast base to come, most new hires will probably not be based in Denver. I would imagine the new hire class that started yesterday will end up in Chicago, or at least will shortly.