Jeezus, you guys aren’t going to pass your next medical. For many of you, this must be your first round of contract negotiations and experience on the airline economic roller coaster. This round of negotiations has so many similarities to the last, I’ve lost track making comparisons; prior to any contract AIP we’re going to appear miles apart and you won’t get a single indication otherwise. That’s not special to us, it’s almost every pilot group. Excluding black swan events (i.e. 9/11, COVID) this industry moves and reacts in slow motion. You shouldn’t get hung up on quarterly results unless you’re an investor. You need to tune out Kirby’s talking points, he’s been trying to speak Frontier out of existence since he took over at United. We’re still here.

Deal hunting for cheap tickets comes and goes, and as Barry likes to say, it’ll be “back in vogue” at some point. In the meantime the company is trying to reposition themselves to be slightly closer to the Legacy product while providing value (e.g. free check bags). For instance, they’re offering add-on travel insurance policies to provide travel recovery options (on all carriers) to address the shortfalls of low-frequency routes; cool, wish we had done that long ago. As of late 2024 corporate travel agents can now book travel on us (“First Class” travel anyone?). Yeah, sure I’d like to see WiFi and as Starlink tries to poach carriers across the industry, I think we’ll see them make a deal with F9. It isn’t going to sink us in the short-term.

Also, there’s PLENTY that may be happening in the background. Indigo/Frontier shot offers at Spirit for several years before a merger agreement was announced. I’m not thoroughly convinced it’s a dead idea, and that with enough changes it could be made to fit again.

We’ll see, enjoy the show.