Frontier Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection on Thursday, under new ownership but still facing a tough competitive situation at its Denver base.
Frontier is now a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which beat out a bid from Southwest Airlines Co.
Denver-based Frontier filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2008. It shrank while in bankruptcy and has been turning an operating profit for the past several months.
Nearly all of Frontier's flights come or go from Denver. That's a competitive market, where Frontier is up against much larger United Airlines as well as discounter Southwest Airlines Co.
Republic has said it will keep the Frontier name for its new subsidiary and there's no change to its frequent-flier program, so passengers are unlikely to see any difference in the airline now that it's out of Chapter 11 protection. Republic is looking for ways to make the operation more efficient, though, possibly including moving Frontier's maintenance operation out of Denver.
"This is the end of a long, difficult journey and the beginning of a new, exciting one," said Sean Menke, Frontier's president and CEO, in a prepared statement. He's staying as Frontier CEO as well as becoming a Republic executive vice president and its chief marketing officer.
Republic now owns all of Frontier through its $108.8 million bid in bankruptcy court. The plan called for Frontier's old shares to be canceled.
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