Frontier Airlines Tips Balance to Non-Ticket Revenues
Photo Credit: Frontier Airlines said this week non-ticket ancillaries make up the majority of airline revenue for now. Denver International Airport / Denver International Airport
Skift Take
Frontier executives didn't say much about the state-of-play in a bid for Spirit Airlines during an earnings call this week. It was more about the here-and-now business, which for Frontier was about ancillary revenues.
Frontier Airlines made 11 percent more revenue in the first three months of this year than in the comparable quarter of 2019. But its revenue mix looks considerably different now, as the company pivots its strategy to focus on ancillary revenue.Ultra-low-cost airlines like Frontier long have prioritized fees, telling analysts how they planned to grow non-ticket revenue in perpetuity. But before the pandemic, Frontier adhered to an informal rule. It sought a roughly equal mix between ticket and non-ticket revenue.No longer. In the first quarter, Frontier said its ancillary revenue was $69 per passenger, a figure that accounted for 62 percent of total per passenger revenue. Its ancillary revenue per passenger was 21 percent higher than the airline's pre-Covid haul, and $4 higher than its quarterly goal."In years past, we thought a 50/50 split of non-ticket and ticket was a good idea," CEO Barry Biffle told analysts on Frontier's first q
