Feb. 17--Frontier Airlines, continuing its aggressive expansion in the Chicago market, in April will add four new flights from O'Hare International Airport, enlarging Chicago as its second-largest base while all but abandoning Midway Airport, where it has operated since the late 1990s.
The ultralow-cost airline, whose aircraft are known for wild animals painted on the tail, is expected to announce Tuesday that on April 14 it will add year-round, nonstop service from O'Hare to Los Angeles and seasonal service, at least through fall, to Austin, Texas. Seasonal nonstop flights to San Francisco and Raleigh, N.C., will begin April 30, the airline said.
Frontier considers Chicago an "underserved market" in terms of discount airlines, Frontier CEO Dave Siegel has told the Tribune. Siegel has said getting into O'Hare has been a priority for him since he took over at Frontier in 2012.
The airline has grown quickly in Chicago, making it the carrier's largest base of operations outside of its headquarters city, Denver.
The carrier has flown limited flights from Midway since the late 1990s. But in fall, it began its first flight from O'Hare, to Washington Dulles International. The transition to O'Hare means Frontier is going head-to-head with its primary competition in the deep-discount market, Spirit Airlines.
Both airlines are known for low fares and for aggressively charging fees, even for carry-on bags and seat assignments.
With recent changes, Frontier will fly only to Trenton, N.J., from Midway. With the new additions, Frontier will fly to 18 destinations from O'Hare.
Consumers lately haven't been thrilled with the airline, which garnered the highest complaint rate reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation in December. Frontier's rate of 4.15 official complaints per 100,000 enplanements was more than double the second-worst carrier, United Airlines, and nearly four times the average of the dozen airlines that report to the Transportation Department. It was also by far the worst for all of 2014.
Siegel has said the complaints stem less from a problem with quality at the airline and more from a misunderstanding among customers about Frontier's new, fee-heavy business model, implemented last year.
Its new pricing policies unbundle services further than most airlines, charging $25 to $50 for carry-on bags that must be stowed in the overhead compartment and $3 to $15 for seat assignments, for example. The airline said that when it introduced the new fees, it lowered base fares by an average of 12 percent.
Frontier also offers packages of service for an extra cost that bring it more in line with service on a traditional carrier.
While Frontier fared poorly in complaints during 2014, it improved its rankings for on-time performance and mishandled bags, as reported to the Transportation Department.
gkarp@tribpub.com
