Frontier has made significant changes to its network, according to its latest schedule upload available via Cirium. It has removed 43 planned routes – it looks like they're permanently gone – while a further 24 have been pulled for sale in November or between November and January. This article examines the 43 that have been cut.

While the US ULCC has 1% more flights for sale in September and October than last week, services between November and January – a period that's far from finalized – have been slashed by 10%. The latest upload indicates that over 4,000 flights have been removed.

43 routes cut

Cirium shows that some 32 domestic and 11 international routes will no longer be served. All were planned to operate from November and be winter-seasonal, but none of them will now operate. There's no indication that they'll return.

A whopping 84% of the domestic services involved Florida, an all-important state during the winter, while all 11 international involved Cancún, an enormously fast-growing destination during the pandemic – especially for Frontier.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N N352FR Vincenzo Pace
While this article is about cuts and postponements, Frontier this week added Denver to Houston Hobby, a route it last served in July 2012. It'll take off on September 7th. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

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32 domestic routes gone

The vast bulk of the routes were short-lived, and most began or resumed during the pandemic. Multiple examples launched earlier this year or late 2021 and were expected to resume this winter but won't. These include Fort Lauderdale to Green Bay, Portland (Maine), and Rochester, Sioux Falls-Orlando, and – strangest of all – Fort Myers-Orlando, presumably designed to feed Frontier's significant Orlando network.

In contrast, others were reasonably well-established, such as Islip to Fort Myers and Kansas City and Minneapolis to Orlando. I'm sure many routes, some of which will now be unserved, will appeal to others. Which carrier will pick up Portland (Maine) to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, and Tampa? None of them will have flights this winter (or at all, for that matter).

  1. Atlanta to Ontario: was to be 4x weekly from November
  2. Buffalo to Fort Myers: was to be up to 7x weekly
  3. Cleveland to Dallas Fort Worth: was to be 3x weekly
  4. Cleveland to Miami: was to be 4x weekly
  5. Columbus to Tampa: was to be 3x weekly
  6. Colorado Springs to Orlando: was to be 2x weekly
  7. Dallas Fort Worth to Miami: was to be 5x weekly
  8. Detroit to Miami: was to be 4x weekly
  9. Fort Lauderdale to Green Bay: was to be 1x weekly
  10. Fort Lauderdale to Portland (Maine): was to be 1x weekly
  11. Fort Lauderdale to Rochester: was to be up to 3x weekly
  12. Fort Myers to Orlando: was to be up to 1x daily
  13. Fort Myers to Syracuse: was to be 1x daily
  14. Green Bay to Tampa: was to be 3x weekly
  15. Indianapolis to Fort Myers: was to be 3x weekly
  16. Islip to Fort Myers: was to be 1x daily
  17. Kansas City to Orlando: was to be 3x weekly
  18. Las Vegas to Madison: was to be 3x weekly
  19. Miami to Syracuse: was to be up to 3x weekly
  20. Milwaukee to Tampa: was to be 2x weekly
  21. Minneapolis to Orlando: was to be 5x weekly
  22. Omaha to Fort Myers: was to be 3x weekly
  23. Ontario to Phoenix: was to be 4x weekly
  24. Phoenix to Sacramento: was to be 3x weekly
  25. Portland (Maine) to Fort Myers: was to be 4x weekly
  26. Portland (Maine) to Tampa: was to be 3x weekly
  27. Providence to Fort Myers: was to be 1x daily
  28. Providence to Tampa: was to be 4x weekly
  29. Raleigh Durham to Tampa: was to be 3x weekly
  30. Rochester to Tampa: was to be 2x weekly
  31. Sioux Falls to Orlando: was to be 2x weekly
  32. Tampa to Syracuse: was to be 4x weekly
Frontier's 43 cut routes
Frontier's 43 cut routes. Image: GCMap.

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11 international

It's a similar story internationally. Most of the 11, which include Houston Hobby, began this year or late last year and won't be returning. Hartford, for example, started on March 8th and ended less than two months later. Like the others, it was expected to return this November. I wonder if they were always designed to be stop-gaps, or whether it's a continuation of the current situation, which has seen many airlines cut many flights.

  1. Cancún to Hartford: was to be 3x weekly
  2. Cancún to Boston: was to be 1x daily
  3. Cancún to Buffalo: was to be 3x weekly
  4. Cancún to Columbus: was to be 2x weekly
  5. Cancún to Dallas Fort Worth: was to be 3x weekly
  6. Cancún to Detroit: was to be 3x weekly
  7. Cancún to Houston Hobby: was to be 3x weekly
  8. Cancún to Miami: was to be up to 2x daily
  9. Cancún to Minneapolis: was to be 1x daily
  10. Cancún to Providence: was to be 1x weekly
  11. Cancún to Raleigh Durham: was to be 1x weekly

What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.