P8ASW

Good Morning!

I’ve been watching the news lately and hearing about all the drama Spirit is having with flight cancellations and dissatisfied customers. While the two business models are not exactly the same, they are similar as both companies seem to compete primarily on price.

Can anyone comment on whether or not this could eventually become a problem at Frontier? If not, what does Frontier do differently to keep this from becoming an issue?

thanks!

AncientAliens

If you’re already worried about that kind of stuff before you get hired here this probably isn’t the place for you.

singlepilot

Totally this…
To further answer your question though, they are pretty much the exact same model.
What happened to our NK brothers and sisters, could easily happen at F9.
We certainly have had our meltdowns like every other airline. Just not anything this large or noteworthy. We are not immune from it though.

EAFF95

We are similar but there are some nuanced differences. Similar business model for sure but the strategy of each airline is slightly different. Spirit seems to be interested in increasing frequency of flights and upselling ancillaries (wifi, big front seat, etc) whereas Frontier is pretty laser focused on reducing casm (truly no frills, more seats on a/c, up-gauging, lower frequency of flights).

You can kinda see it how the airplane orders look. Spirit is trying for 319 neos whereas Frontier basically dumped all 319's, and even decided to trade 320s for 321 neos.

The important factor here is frequency.... Our meltdowns may not disrupt the system quite as bad but it does mean leaving passengers somewhere they may or maynot want to be for an extended period of time...

As far as the meltdown is concerned, that's a possibility for any airline.

weflyurelax

I believe what sets them apart is the customer service aspect. I don’t know entirely the finer details, but a google search shows much more complaints at Spirit. One suggestion googled offered, “Is Spirit the worst airline?”

P8ASW

This is certainly a helpful comment, and I appreciate you taking the time to enlighten me.

Background is that I have been hired by Frontier, but have also been hired by United.

I can drive to work at Frontier, United would require a commute. I really want to go to Frontier, I’m just looking for some thoughts on the long term outlook for the company.

I do appreciate everyone else’s thoughts on this subject.

EAFF95

Go to United and don't look back.

Frontier will be fine but your paycheck at United will be worth millions of dollars more by the time you retire.

TOGALOCK

I don't entirely disagree, but I do think that's pretty broad "one size fits all" advice. In my opinion, a lot depends on the OP's personal situation.

The "millions of dollars more" would primarily be a function of both a good number of years as a widebody captain and profit sharing. Profit sharing in any large quantity will likely not be seen for a long time, and depending on the OP's age, they need to determine how many years they'd likely spend in the left seat of a widebody. They also need to ask themselves, at what point would they transition to a widebody captain spot? At the first available opportunity, or sit on narrowbody captain pay for a good number of years until they could hold a line? Are they even young enough to ever be able to have a chance to make that decision?

Also, we're not out of the covid woods yet and business and international travel is still severely depressed. It's looking more and more like international travel may not recover for a very long time. If covid doesn't shake itself out in the next year or so, I don't think that some furloughs at the big 3 could possibly be out of the question. Of course that could apply anywhere, but considering the domestic demand, I would feel far more comfortable at the bottom of the list at someplace like F9, NK, B6, WN, etc.

It all comes down to life situation and adversity to risk for the OP. If they are young, unmarried/married without kids, and okay with rolling the dice on the possibility of being a furlough casualty then I would definitely say to go for United. If they have a few more gray hairs on their head and will likely never be a widebody captain for a good number of years (if ever), have kids and financial responsibilities at home, and want something slightly less risky then I'd say go for Frontier (the driving to work part is huge).

It's all about personal situation, not an all encompassing answer.

EAFF95

No arguments with what you said.

I realized after I hit send that I'm taking into account my personal view on the matter. Your mileage may vary of course.

P8ASW

I appreciate the thought put into your response. Age is a significant factor as I’m already 45, wide body captain may not ever be in the cards for me at United. Additionally, I have 3 kids at home and I think Frontier would give me more days around the house…