Budget carrier says it returned 24 Airbus A320neos in the second quarter, earlier than originally planned.
Frontier Airlines has shrunk its fleet by 18 aircraft as it works to rightsize capacity and overcome widening losses spurred by fuel costs across the industry.
The low-cost carrier returned 24 leased Airbus A320neos in the second quarter, earlier than originally planned, and is in “advanced discussions” to terminate leases on another 13. Deliveries of six new A320neos and A321neos bring the net reduction to 18.
In their place, Frontier plans to add up to 10 newer and more fuel-efficient A321neos as it battles a net loss of $90 million, up from $70 million in the same period a year ago.
“Quite frankly, I really like the timing of it,” chief executive James Dempsey says of the early lease terminations.
Capacity as measured by available seat miles (ASMs) was up 8% in the second quarter but executives say they expect that growth to moderate through the end of the year. In 2027, Frontier expects capacity to expand another 5-8% as it works back from reductions put in place due to fuel costs.
“We’d prefer to get the airline back into a productive state, and we’re probably about five or six points behind in terms of capacity from where we’d like to be because of the oil price crisis,” says Dempsey.
“UpFront Plus” seats, introduced two years ago, have “significantly increased the revenue for the real estate that exists at that part of the aircraft”, Dempsey says. Frontier hopes to double down on that premium when first class seats launch later this year.
Frontier, like its low-cost competitor JetBlue Airways, has been filling the gap left by Spirit Airlines’ collapse in 2025. But fleet reductions have left the carrier with less capacity to open new markets: routes less than a year old now make up only about 10-15% of Frontier’s network, executives say, down from a historical 25-35%.
“We’re probably about a year out from having an operation that we are really comfortable with,” Dempsey says. “We’ve made real progress, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
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