In recent days, tens of millions of people have seen a video about a confrontation at a Frontier Airlines check-in counter. The airline has now taken action, which seems appropriate. However, I think it misses the big picture issue that Frontier has when it comes to customer service, which is all too often overlooked.
In this post:
Frontier Airlines check-in agents go off on customer
There has been widespread coverage of a tense exchange that happened on Friday, May 2, 2025, between a customer and Frontier Airlines representatives at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). A man reportedly arrived at the airport around 50 minutes before departure, for his flight to Boston (BOS).
He wasn’t aware that Frontier requires people to check-in at least 60 minutes before departure, as he hadn’t checked in via the website or app. The agents offered to check him in for a $25 fee, which is Frontier’s standard airport assist fee (yes, there’s a charge for the airline to help customers).
The man didn’t like the tone of the agents, who told him that he should have known about this, but he agreed to pay the fee. While preparing to pay the fee, he said “I’m never flying this sh****y airline again,” and that’s when things got a little out of control, and he started recording the below video.
As you can see, two Frontier representatives then start filming him. One employee repeatedly says “and you thought you was gonna get on your flight,” while the other employee stands there and laughs.
Given the public outrage over this, Frontier has issued an apology, stating that the employees no longer work for Frontier, and that the man has been refunded for his Frontier flight, as well as the replacement flight he booked on JetBlue.
Look, the check-in agents acted completely inappropriately, no matter how you slice it. It’s possible the customer was also out of line, but the level of mockery, disdain, and laughter they showed toward the customer, is completely unacceptable.
I realize we’re all humans and have bad days, but this just crosses the line. I’d understand if they would step back and basically say “I can’t help you anymore,” but they almost seem to get a thrill out of this.
This misses the bigger issue with Frontier Airlines service
Bigger picture, Frontier Airlines has a real issue with unfriendly and unhelpful ground agents. Sure, you can fire these two individuals, but that doesn’t get at the root cause of the issue.
Many people don’t realize this, but Frontier outsources virtually all of its airport operations jobs, even at hubs. On this page, you can find which company they subcontract to at each airport. Obviously this is a money saving move, so the airline can pay staff as little as possible, without worrying about them unionizing, etc.
I don’t know if this is still the case, but historically, the airline has given airport operations employees a commission on ancillary revenue generated, including for gate checking bags that are above the allowed size (given the carrier’s punitive carry-on policy).
Obviously this creates a really messed up incentive system when it comes to providing good customer service. Delta gives its employees profit sharing, while Frontier gives its contract employees a commission on fees they can extra from customers. In other words, Delta incentivizes its employees to make customers happy, while Frontier incentivizes its employees to make customers unhappy.
Then combine that with Frontier’s really customer unfriendly policies. For example, Frontier’s $25 airport agent assist fee means that the airline charges $25 if you need any help from an airport agent, even if it’s just to print a boarding pass.
Pre-pandemic, carriers like Frontier could get away with this, because the airline had an amazing cost structure, and ultra low cost carriers were profitable. But times have changed. As Frontier struggles to turn a profit and tries to become more premium, it still hasn’t ditched many of the policies that lead to an unpleasant experience. If the airline actually wants people to be loyal, pick up a credit card, or fly the airline even if it’s not way cheaper, then a lot needs to change.
Bottom line
A Frontier Airlines check-in interaction went viral, after two representatives mocked and filmed a customer who was frustrated. The airline has taken action, and the two people are no longer associated with Frontier. The customer has also been refunded for his ticket, and the replacement ticket he had to buy.
Frontier made the right move here, though given the amount of attention this got, the airline had no choice. The bigger issue remains that Frontier exclusively uses contract employees for ground services, so they aren’t properly incentivized to care about customer service. Quite to the contrary, at least historically, they’ve primarily been incentivized to find any chance possible to charge customers. For them, unhappy customers increased their pay checks!
What do you make of this Frontier incident?
The pax should not have uttered words shiddy airline that caused the whole problem he should control his tongue
DEI Hoodrats. You can take them out of the hood, but you cant take the hood out of them.
The problem is because the Frontier agents' parents never taught them standard manners. They probably grew up wild, violent, and wonder why they didn't do well in school. It's hard to train a Tarzan from the jungle to be a refined person, much as the Tarzan film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, a 1984 film showed (starring Christopher Lambert as Tarzan and Andie McDowell as Jane). Tarzan in that film was...
The problem is because the Frontier agents' parents never taught them standard manners. They probably grew up wild, violent, and wonder why they didn't do well in school. It's hard to train a Tarzan from the jungle to be a refined person, much as the Tarzan film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, a 1984 film showed (starring Christopher Lambert as Tarzan and Andie McDowell as Jane). Tarzan in that film was the good guy but still wild.
(Not racist as Tarzan is white)
Obviously both parties are at fault here but the rudeness of the employees isn't just surprising—it's par for the course down here.
We moved from NYC to Raleigh/Durham and I have been frankly appalled by the rudeness of people in every setting. From driving to the grocery store to dining at any of the (mediocre) restaurants that have delusions of thinking they're in SoHo or something—and charging Manhattan prices, to boot.
People think...
Obviously both parties are at fault here but the rudeness of the employees isn't just surprising—it's par for the course down here.
We moved from NYC to Raleigh/Durham and I have been frankly appalled by the rudeness of people in every setting. From driving to the grocery store to dining at any of the (mediocre) restaurants that have delusions of thinking they're in SoHo or something—and charging Manhattan prices, to boot.
People think New Yorkers are rude but that's a misconception. New Yorkers can be incredibly friendly and helpful as long as you don't waste their time. Here, you ask someone at CVS if they have an item you couldn't find and they roll their eyes at you. Sorry, didn't realize that was such an offensive request.
The area has grown exponentially since I was an undergrad here in the 90s. And it looks like the rest of the country has shipped all their bad drivers and a**holes here.
I think your take on this is right on, Ben! The incentive structure inevitably leads to situations like this. For those saying. "Oh that's just Frontier...you get what you pay for..." not in my book. Everyone pays differently on every flight, whether it's a 'free' award booking, a cheap discounted ticket, or an expensive last minute ticket. The contract of carriage is what matters and the airline fell short here. I'm glad these two were...
I think your take on this is right on, Ben! The incentive structure inevitably leads to situations like this. For those saying. "Oh that's just Frontier...you get what you pay for..." not in my book. Everyone pays differently on every flight, whether it's a 'free' award booking, a cheap discounted ticket, or an expensive last minute ticket. The contract of carriage is what matters and the airline fell short here. I'm glad these two were fired, and frankly the others in the video should be impacted too. But I would definitely tell the guy to get there earlier next time!
Lucky,
Maybe "commission on fees they can extra from customers" would be better as "commission on fees they can EXTRACT from customers"?
When you book with an airline like Frontier, you just have to follow their rules. The conditions on the ticket are quite clear. It's a bummer if you're running late and miss their arbitrary deadline, or your luggage is one pound too heavy and you have to pay extra, but you knew how things were going to be when you bought the ticket.
While you may be correct, that in no way justifies the way those employees treated that customer. Their behavior was outrageous and I will not subject myself to this type of treatment after paying money for a flight, therefore I have crossed Frontier off my list and will not even take a chance. The fact that they fired those two and reimbursed the customer is "too little too late" in my book.
Frontier Airlines struggles stem from CEO, Barry Biffle. These incidents, of which there are many, highlight the unprofessional behavior that is a result of an unclear vision and poor decision-making that trickles down, fostering inconsistency and eroding employee morale and customer trust. Frontier Pilots see it every day.
https://youtu.be/y4y3uKU0Boo?si=5Ds-gMhwD56ncPTk
For those of you erroneously writing that the the customer service agents were checking him in after the flight had closed- that would never happen and is simply not true. No one can check anyone in after the flight has closed.
They were simply checking him in after the deadline for checking in on the self service kiosks. You can still check in but you have to pay the $25 fee. The customer did...
For those of you erroneously writing that the the customer service agents were checking him in after the flight had closed- that would never happen and is simply not true. No one can check anyone in after the flight has closed.
They were simply checking him in after the deadline for checking in on the self service kiosks. You can still check in but you have to pay the $25 fee. The customer did not know that it would cost that and has a right to have an opinion about it. He didn’t lose his cool. The agents should have never taunted him. Period. They are customer service agents and need to maintain their professionalism. If a traveler is being unprofessional, they can call over a supervisor but they don’t have a right to deny check-in to a paying customer who is still within the window of paying and checking in. This was abuse of authority meant to be punitive and degrading. It is cruel and lacking in any empathy- the antithesis of customer service.
No, check-in was closed. He showed at 50 minutes before departure, then proceeded to argue for 20 minutes . All forms of Frontier check-in close at the same time - 60 minutes prior - so they were going above and beyond for him by violating company policy.
Why? Because the mentality of the ULCC is you paid for a ticket we can't make money on and therefore feel totally free to treat you like sh&t. This guy is at fault in the sense he decided to fly on an airline that is hostile to it's customers. The ULCC mindset exist because people want $49 fares. The employees were fired solely because this became a huge social media dust storm. Not because of their behavior.
“ This guy is at fault in the sense he decided to fly on an airline that is hostile to its customers.”
How would he know that Frontier treats their customers like garbage? Are you actually thinking that customers read airline reviews before booking a cheap ticket? Are you actually suggesting that they’re supposed to? And from that, therefore, this is his fault that he was treated so rudely and unprofessionally and insultingly?
Yeah…nope.
If you pay $49 for your ticket and expect that airline to have good customer service I don't know what to tell you. As my mother used to say "you get what you pay for."
They employees were actually violating company policy by checking him after the flight was closed. You argue with me and curse at me when I am doing you a favor and you will get no help just like what happened here. I wouldn't have recorded and gone back and forth with him like these agents did, I would have just told him the flight was closed and walked away.
you cant videotape people. thats what did it.
The only thing that stinks about that videos we only got to see where it started at that point. Who knows what the hell the guy was saying before he started the video? But yes, they were absolutely ridiculous.
Don't really care to watch the gory details of the video, but I agree that I can easily imagine a possible demeanor of the late arriving pax before the video commenced....
This scenario was one of the most dreaded during my career with an airline and resulted in at least one very unpleasant incident for both myself & ''offending" pax...
Your assumption though unintentionally mistaken would be Frontier is still a decent airline as it used to be for Denver.
I wouldn't call Frontier's policies unfriendly. They are direct in what they offer and what you will pay for. Boarding in group 8 is unfriendly.
You know exactly what you are getting when booking with them. They are very clear on what you will pay for checking in with an agent vs checking in online. Baggage fees and weight requirements are very clear and easy to find.
Incentivizing for extras is no different than the compensation extras of a bank teller.
Frontier is not direct about the insufficient padding of their seats. I flew LGA to ATL and my ass hurt
The employees are lowlifes. No decent person should hire them for any job.