The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Steamboat not part of new Frontier

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Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs is not one of eight new destinations for Frontier Airlines’ regional subsidiary Lynx Aviation.

Frontier officials announced the new destinations during a news conference at 8:30 a.m. today at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The eight new cities to be serviced by regional Frontier flights are Aspen; Colorado Springs; Grand Junction; Durango; Bozeman, Mont.; Missoula, Mont.; Fargo, N.D.; and Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Local officials had been optimistic Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley would be part of the expansion. That optimism waned recently, particularly after Frontier’s fiscal report for the third quarter of 2007. The airline reported a net loss of $32.5 million, including $4.8 million in start-up costs, schedule readjustments and other losses for Lynx, and $3.5 million stemming from increased fuel costs.

“We have been and remain in a very good position with Frontier,” Intrawest Chief Marketing Officer Andy Wirth said earlier this month at Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp’s ninth annual Airline Partners Summit. “But what we’re seeing is a re-think of their business model.”

However, Frontier’s announcement today includes nonstop service between Denver International Airport and four Colorado destinations — Colorado Springs, Aspen, Durango and Grand Junction. The Colorado Springs flights will begin April 15; flights to the other three Colorado destinations will begin May 15.

The flights will utilize Frontier’s new fleet of Bombardier Q400 aircraft. Denver-based Frontier says the new service could reduce the average fare in some of its new markets by as much as 50 percent.

“Frontier’s new service is great news for Colorado, and it’s even better news for travelers from around the country seeking to visit Colorado’s top destinations,” Gov. Bill Ritter said in a statement.

Frontier service to Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden would have competed directly with United Airlines, the only YVRA carrier that offers daily flights to Denver.

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Community comments

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Dan Hill
February 14, 2008 at 11:14 a.m.
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This was inevitable once we did the deal with United to move to an all jet service from the end of this winter. United will have increased seats into YVRA anyway, making it tough for Frontier, especially selling a turboprop service up against a jet service.

STEMBOATwannabe (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 12:26 p.m.
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Is United offering flights all year - or just seasonally??

mTnsmith (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 1:04 p.m.
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United is now offering year round Jet service out of Hayden.

ColoradoNative (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.
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Great now united can continue to rip us off.

mTnsmith (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 2:27 p.m.
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At least United will be here year round. I would rather fly out of Hayden than have to drive to DIA.

mfishon1 (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 3:10 p.m.
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The last 2 trips i took were priced at $575 out of HDN compared to $230 from DEN….multiply that by 2 family members and it is a no brainer to drive to DEN to save over $600. I'm actually wondering how many locals actually use HDN for outbound trips. At my last HOA meeting a bunch of us ended up in a discussion about flying (because it seemed everyone wanted to escape for some sunshine at that point) and viturally everyone in that discussion flys out of DEN because of price….regardless of if it means driving both ways thru white-out conditions in the dead of winter.

I sure the incoming tourists with deep pockets don't have much heart-burn over paying extra to fly into HDN because they want to get on that mountain as soon as possible without having to worry about the commute from DEN to steamboat. Hence United will continue to charge whatever they want…including extra baggage fees because there will always be people willing to pay it for a taste of steamboat.

paddlefisher (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 3:41 p.m.
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ya..I'm bumbed..sis lives in Montana could have had a chance for direct fight to Missoula..Oh well such is life

mTnsmith (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 4:23 p.m.
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I am a local and I fly out about once a month for business. The prices that I have paid have ranged from $215 - $540 for round trips this winter. So far, I have not had a reason to drive to Denver. But I am not paying for a family of 4 either.
The $215 flight, was direct round trip to Chicago, and not sure if I could have gotten it cheaper going to DIA. The prices are just hit or miss.
I have friends coming from Tampa in March. One friend bought tickets a month ago, and paid $345, another group just bought them last week and paid $230.
We can blame as many different things as we would like (United), but that is just the way air travel is, doesn't matter where you are flying from.

bcpow (anonymous)
February 14, 2008 at 5:18 p.m.
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We flew to CA last summer on Delta hdn-slc-sjc and it was just a little more than flying out of Denver. Is this option still available? It was really easy and we didn't get thrown all over the place like some of the puddlejumper flights I have had to DIA.

STEMBOATwannabe (anonymous)
February 15, 2008 at 11:50 a.m.
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Obviously SP&T does not want this to be one of the active discussions.

This artlicle is not even on the more poplular discussions. Is the pilot getting $$ from one of the airlines to not include this discussion in the popular listings???

Carrie Requist
February 15, 2008 at 12:06 p.m.
› Suggest removal

Denver Post today says “Frontier also plans in June or July to announce more winter destinations, such as Steamboat Springs, Vail and Crested Butte.”

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_82…

424now (anonymous)
February 15, 2008 at 12:24 p.m.
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We will see now won't we.

STEMBOATwannabe (anonymous)
February 15, 2008 at 4:53 p.m.
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This is still not making the list.

It makes me wonder.

i always figure the cost of the shuttle from SS to DIA when I consider the cost of the air fare. I add $150 (plus tip) to the cost to cover what we would pay per person to take the shuttle. When I do this sometimes the fare from Hayden to where ever is then not as outrageous as I first thought.