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Frontier Airlines Announces Service to Bozeman

By: Daniel Person
Publication: Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Date: February 15, 2008

Frontier Airlines announced Thursday that it will begin serving Gallatin Field Airport, ending more than two years of speculation about possible service to Bozeman and sparking drastic drops in airfare to Denver and beyond.

The Colorado-based airline will offer three daily flights to and from Denver beginning May 22. Each flight will carry about 70 people.

Bozeman residents expressed excitement Thursday as they watched the cost of flights after May 22 plummet.

“I’m pretty excited. I’m looking at the screen right now and a roundtrip flight to Denver is $252,” said David Smith, president and chief financial officer for the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce. He was looking at a flight leaving May 23. For comparison, the same flight in April would cost $478.

Frontier’s decision is part of a “realignment of its route structure,” the company said. In the spring, eight new areas will be serviced by Frontier, including Jackson Hole and Missoula.

* For the past two and a half years, the Gallatin Field Airport Authority and local business leaders have been negotiating with Frontier Airlines, providing the company incentives to serve the area.

Frontier has a $145,000 revenue guarantee from local businesses, which ensures Frontier it would be compensated for first year losses of up to that amount by area businesses, Smith said.

Also, the airport will devote $42,000 in capital improvements at the airport, Sprenger said, a common offer for new airlines interested in coming to Gallatin Field Airport. These capital improvements could include new check-in areas and seating at the airport, he said.

The incentives are indicative of how much air service can benefit a community, Smith said.

“(Air service) is so valuable for communities that airlines are playing a whole other game,” he said, noting that Home Depot did not demand revenue guarantees when they decided to open a store in Bozeman about five years ago. Still, the $145,000 businesses “put on the table” for Frontier is far less than other communities have offered, he said.

Frontier’s written statement about the expansion states that its “new service is expected to reduce the average fare in many of the new markets by as much as 50 percent.”

On Thursday morning, fare comparisons between flights leaving before May 22 and after showed Bozeman should expect to see such dramatic drops.

“The main thing that we think is very important is that this will lower fairs, and it will lower them substantially,” Sprenger said.

While today many people drive to Billings to get lower airfare, “this will take that incentive out,” he said.

In Big Sky, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marne Hayes said the demand for another airline in the Gallatin Valley was evident.

“Air service comes up in most conversations with people who are thinking about coming to Bozeman,” she said. “We all know there is adequate air service, but it might be too expensive. And if it’s not an expense issue, it might be frequency or the size of the airplane.”

Indeed, Montana’s travel director said Frontier’s expansion to Bozeman and Missoula should mean bigger numbers for out-of-state tourism.

“Any time we can get additional seats to the state of Montana it has importance bringing nonresidents into the state,” Betsy Bauman said. “Last year we hosted 10.4 million nonresident travelers. If we can make access easier, it certainly helps grow those numbers.”

Frontier’s main competitor will be United Airlines, which also offers direct flights from Bozeman to Billings.

The increased competition would not likely force United out of Bozeman, Smith said.

“I think what it does is causes United to sharpen their pencil here in Bozeman,” he said. “These are expensive assets these airlines own. It’s not easy to change on a dime.”

But Tiffany Leigland, a manager at the travel agency Montana Travel, said even Delta, which offers flights to Salt Lake City, will be feeling the heat.

“It’s good news for consumers,” she said.

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