Cities across the Rockies angling for Frontier service

DENVER — Communities across the Rockies are putting pen to paper to come up with their best pitch for landing Frontier Airlines' service. Financial incentives? Perhaps. Marketing help? Possible. A large pool of potential passengers? Definitely.

Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. has invited as many as 50 midsize cities within a 1,200-mile radius of its Denver base to submit proposals by mid-January detailing how they would support either turboprop or jet service and why they need it.

Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said Thursday that the carrier has received a number of inquiries. He said the airline is interested in cities that have enough potential passengers to make the new service self-sustaining, but he declined to identify any of them.

Aviation analyst Mike Boyd of the Boyd Group speculated the cities would include upscale resorts such as Aspen or Jackson, Wyo., where there would be an ample supply of passengers for service to Denver and points beyond.

"The fear I have is that a lot of small communities are getting their expectations raised unfairly," Boyd said. "Unless there's enough traffic to make it work, forget about it."

Frontier is buying 10 Bombardier 74-seat turboprop planes for $257 million to use in the turboprop service and plans to expand its regional jet fleet to a maximum of 20, 70-seat aircraft. The expanded service should start next summer with plans to serve up to 15 markets.

In southwestern Colorado, officials at La Plata County Airport in Durango think they are a good fit for the program. The airport is on pace to set a record for passenger traffic, the region is growing and demand for service to Denver outstrips supply, airport Aviation Director Ron Dent said.

Dent said the airport is working on the proposal, and he emphasized that anything offered to Frontier also would be offered to other carriers.

"We're very serious about this," he said. "I think we have a shot at it."

In addition to Durango, others interested in the service include Eagle County Airport, which serves Vail and its surrounding towns; Montrose, which serves Telluride; and Cody, Wyo.

Tom Hess, president of the Telluride Montrose Regional Air Organization, said his group is working with the Montrose airport on a proposal and is looking at "a whole menu" of incentives.

Bob Hooper, manager of the Yellowstone Regional Airport in Cody, said they are drafting a proposal, answering about a dozen questions from Frontier that center on airport operations and community data. The airport serves about 30,000 passengers a year with about five daily flights in the summer season.

Ovid Seifers, manager of Eagle County Airport, said the service would add more options for passengers traveling to Denver and likely would offer lower ticket prices. He declined to be specific about their proposal but said he believes most mountain communities are interested.

"We're just trying to be in the hunt like everybody else," he said.