Is the partnership between Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways so good that Frontier is looking for yet another partner? According to Frontier's Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate the company is looking: "We're definitely open. We'll be happy to talk to anybody about it."
The alliance between AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines has added as much as $6million dollars to the company without having to purchase additional aircraft and hire and train new employees. Both carriers agreed to a marketing and frequent flier partnership that will double the number of destinations available to each carrier's customers by encouraging passengers to connect from one carrier to the other. For Frontier it allows more access to the east coast and for AirTran it allows more access to the west and Mexico.
While Frontier is not actively negotiating with any other carriers, Tate said similar relationships might make sense with airlines such as privately held Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp. and Midwest Airlines. This has worked well for both airlines. I expect to see some more alliances between these carriers mentioned above.
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