TodayQuote:
If the merger was successful, Frontier would have gotten an extra 2000+ pilots to continue their growth plans and keep things afloat until the legacy hiring craze subsides.
However, that obviously didn’t happen. Now Frontier is faced with massive growth ambitions, a very small supply of new pilots, and legacies hiring up all the young hopefuls they can. To add to the burn, having Frontier, Spirit, or JetBlue on one’s resume to a legacy currently seems to hold about the same weight as having a Ph.d and a few space shuttle landings. So, Frontier is faced with increasing attrition from more than just new hires.
Indigo has already made MASSIVE returns on their Frontier investment. It wouldn’t be totally unbelievable for them to decide it’s time to walk away upon realizing the headwinds that they are about to face. Just like a good stock, sometimes it’s just time to sell when it’s high. Indigo still has slots to hundreds of very desirable A320 series orders. They could offload Frontier, still maintain control of those slots and either sell them to another airline (making a huge profit), or maintain the orders and continue a steady income flow by leasing them.
That said, I know everyone is praying that a legacy buys us. People seem to be jumping for joy over the thought of Frontier being bought, but “being bought” doesn’t mean that we would be flying a legacy or SWA paint job in the future. A sale of Frontier could also simply mean a sale to another investment company. Look at Sun Country, they were “bought”, but I don’t see them flying around with a cute little heart on the side of their planes.
I think the plan was the for the Spirit planes to come with the Spirit pilots, so I don't think it would have changed anything in regards to the current hiring environment.Originally Posted by TOGALOCK
True, but we didn’t. I’m not saying that Indigo is definitely looking for a new suitor for Frontier, but the spirit merger could have been a fork in the road:If the merger was successful, Frontier would have gotten an extra 2000+ pilots to continue their growth plans and keep things afloat until the legacy hiring craze subsides.
However, that obviously didn’t happen. Now Frontier is faced with massive growth ambitions, a very small supply of new pilots, and legacies hiring up all the young hopefuls they can. To add to the burn, having Frontier, Spirit, or JetBlue on one’s resume to a legacy currently seems to hold about the same weight as having a Ph.d and a few space shuttle landings. So, Frontier is faced with increasing attrition from more than just new hires.
Indigo has already made MASSIVE returns on their Frontier investment. It wouldn’t be totally unbelievable for them to decide it’s time to walk away upon realizing the headwinds that they are about to face. Just like a good stock, sometimes it’s just time to sell when it’s high. Indigo still has slots to hundreds of very desirable A320 series orders. They could offload Frontier, still maintain control of those slots and either sell them to another airline (making a huge profit), or maintain the orders and continue a steady income flow by leasing them.
That said, I know everyone is praying that a legacy buys us. People seem to be jumping for joy over the thought of Frontier being bought, but “being bought” doesn’t mean that we would be flying a legacy or SWA paint job in the future. A sale of Frontier could also simply mean a sale to another investment company. Look at Sun Country, they were “bought”, but I don’t see them flying around with a cute little heart on the side of their planes.
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