Frontier Airlines announced on Sept. 14 that it would stop all flights coming out of Provo Airport starting in 2013.
Starting on June 21 of last year, Frontier had successfully been flying a small, 99-seat Embraer 190 jet aircraft out of Provo for quick trips to Denver. However, due to recently falling profits across the country, Frontier Airlines had to make some cutbacks. These small Provo flights to Denver were on their list of things to go in this coming year. This was unexpected, as Frontier Airlines had announced earlier this year that it was planning on bringing in an Airbus for its Provo fleet in January.
Provo City Mayor John Curtis expressed in a press release that this was an unfortunate change for Provo.
“While disappointing, this is just a temporary setback,” Curtis said. “The Provo flights were often full, proving that there is a demand for the service. And they were overall profitable when you factor in the trips beyond Denver.”
Mayor Curtis was not the only one that is disappointed by the cancellation of this service. Marissa Wimmer and her husband, both students at BYU, have flown out of Provo before and were dismayed to hear that Frontier Airlines would no longer be offering services out of Provo Airport.
“I am sad that they are not flying out of Provo anymore,” Wimmer said. “It was super nice to just get off the plane and have our luggage brought over to us and then be home in 10 minutes. I think if they had given it more time it would have been profitable for the airport in the long run as more people heard about it.”
Not only did it seem profitable to those that flew out of Provo, but as the Wimmers found out, these flights were perfect for BYU students who wanted to quickly get out of Provo and avoid the complications of driving all the way to Salt Lake City.
“We are both disappointed because we were excited about being able to fly out of Provo at a future date,” Wimmer said. “It will definitely take longer to get out to the SLC airport when we have to travel and it could possibly cost more because it is a larger airport.”
Although Frontier Airlines has decided to pull their flights from Provo Airport, the city of Provo is still determined to search for other ways the residents can take advantage of this airport.
“We’re continuing to look at other airlines to provide service as well,” Curtis said.
