Frontier Airlines aircraft are parked at the gates of Denver International Airport (DEN) in Denver, Colorado, on August 5, 2023.
Daniel Delgado | afp | fake images
Border Airlinesone of the world's largest low-cost airlines is adding first class seats.
Its shift in strategy comes as the industry struggles to get customers willing to splurge on more personal space.
Starting in September, Frontier plans to begin removing the first two rows of its three-by-three economy seats to add four first-class seats, in a two-by-two configuration.
The Denver-based airline is also revamping its loyalty program to offer complimentary seat upgrades to its gold tier members and above, when available, and a free companion ticket for its platinum and diamond tier members. By mid-2025, customers will be able to redeem their miles for seat upgrades and baggage fees.
CEO Barry Biffle said he expects the new initiatives to generate about $250 million in 2026 and more than $500 million in 2028.
“While we have the lowest costs in the industry, we don't have the best revenue model,” Biffle said in an interview.
Biffle said the company's biggest gaps in its revenue model were because it didn't offer first-class seating and didn't have enough rewards for members of its loyalty program. “This is going to change the rules of the game,” he added.
He said he expects the new seats to be especially popular on some of Frontier's flights across the country.
The changes to Frontier's cabins come as the airline industry is competing to win over higher-paying customers, equipping planes with more or larger first-class seats that command higher fares, increasing pressure on low-cost airlines to that present more spacious options.
Those updates come from giants like Delta and Unitedwhich account for most of the industry's profits, and smaller carriers like JetBlue. Frontier will have to compete with airlines that offer other benefits to sitting at the front of the plane, such as full meals, but Biffle said his airline's best seats will beat them in price.
The airline announced in March that it would begin selling rows with blocked middle seats, and Frontier plans to continue offering that option, a spokeswoman said.
Southwest Airlines plans to add seats with extra legroom and introduce seat assignments to increase revenue, changing course from the open-seat cabin it has flown for more than 50 years.
Spirit Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, offers a “large front seat” that is similar to a domestic first-class seat on its planes.
