Frontier Airlines: Fragile like a house of cards

The head of Frontier’s pilot’s union compared the airline to a “house of cards” in a letter to their members today.

Capt. Brian Ketchum, Chairman of the Frontier Airlines Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association stated: “It goes without saying that this has been a horrible week for Frontier Airlines,”

A passenger tweeted today: Frontier is  the WORST Airline. I literally been trying to get to Charlotte since Saturday.

Another passenger added:  Frontier didn’t have the decency to cancel a flight. We are now stuck sleeping on the floor.

Chad tweeted: NEVER AGAIN @FlyFrontier I WILL NEVER FLY WITH YOU AGAIN!!!!

Delays affecting thousands of passengers since snow and contract-employee sick calls triggered a ripple effect across the airline’s route network Saturday. The effects continued Wednesday.

The union head said the delays were the worst ever at the airline.

Ketchum explained: “Our airline was painfully exposed as an ultra-low cost carrier whose business model might be compared to a ‘house of cards,’ incurring an operational meltdown and virtual collapse in the face of weather conditions that other airlines were able to overcome and that are par for the course this time of year. The scale of this week’s debacle appears to dwarf anything we have seen in our careers at Frontier.”

The union that represents Frontier’s pilots is in the process of negotiating a new contract with the airline. The current contract expires in March.

 

Another pilot echoed the frustration.

“I am not at all satisfied with the company’s response to their employees in the wake of the weekend events.”

The problem compounded when contract workers, who load bags on planes, called in sick in large numbers Saturday morning.

Thousands of passengers were stranded across the country and many were told they had to wait days before they could be rebooked.

Frontier has apologized to passengers and offered refunds of tickets purchased with money and miles.

Faulkner, the Frontier spokesman, said the airline hopes to reconcile all bags and owners by Thursday. It takes longer to find contract information for customers who booked at sites other than directly through Frontier.