Frontier Flight Attendants Angry About New Scheduling

In an effort to return to profitability by cutting costs and becoming more reliable, ultra low cost carrier Frontier Airlines has changed how it schedules flights. While this is a smart move on the carrier’s part, Frontier flight attendants aren’t at all happy about this, and I don’t blame them.

Let me first share some background, and then we’ll talk about why flight attendants are unhappy.

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Frontier Airlines is building a more modular network

In late 2023, Frontier management revealed details of a business transformation plan. US ultra low cost carriers have been struggling financially, so they need to do something to switch things up. One of Frontier’s changes is that it wants to be more like Ryanair and Wizz Air in Europe, in terms of how it schedules planes.

Historically, Frontier largely operated like the “big three” US carriers, in terms of cycling planes throughout its schedule and route network. A plane would fly a complicated multi-day pattern, spending every night in a different city.

Now Frontier is working on building a much more modular network. The idea is that Frontier will base aircraft at specific airports, and then 90%+ of the time, those planes will fly back to the same base each night. This is similar to what you’ll find at most ultra low cost carriers in Europe. What’s the advantage of this?

• Frontier has had huge issues with operational reliability, and basing aircraft out of an airport helps with that; that’s because when there are irregular operations, a plane would previously go out of sequence, and then the operation would struggle to recover, due to the domino effect of that
• By focusing more on having mini-hubs in many cities, Frontier hopes to get more market saturation, and get more people to apply for co-branded credit cards, and be loyal to the airline
• By operating most planes to and from the same airport every day, there are savings in terms of crewing costs, as crews have fewer layovers
• By flying planes to the same bases every day, it helps with maintenance costs, since maintenance can more reliably be performed overnight

Why Frontier flight attendants are unhappy with new scheduling

Denver7 has the story of how flight attendants at Frontier are upset about the carrier’s shift in scheduling, and how some flight attendants are even thinking of quitting because of this.

Many Frontier flight attendants are finding themselves going from primarily working three or four day trips with overnights, to only being offered same day turns. This has several downsides for flight attendants:

• When flight attendants are on longer trips they get per diem pay, which is apparently roughly $50 per day, so they’re getting paid something even during a layover
• Many Frontier flight attendants commute to their base (meaning they live in one city but are based in another city), which isn’t a big deal when you work a three or four day trip and your hotels are paid for; however, if you work same day turns every day, that means you’re on your own for accommodations and expenses at your base
• Even those flight attendants who live at their base will be spending a lot more time and money commuting to the airport every day, which costs gas money, leads to car depreciation, takes up time, etc.

Here’s what some Frontier flight attendants had to say about these changes:

• “So if I am on a three day trip, then I’m getting paid from the time I leave Denver to the time I come back to Denver. And that’s a per diem that we that we are allowed.”
• “Previously, in order to get the number of hours that I wanted to fly per month, that was one three or four day trip per week for me, which meant four times back and forth to the airport for me. Now in order to get those same amount of hours, I would be driving back and forth 12 times.”
• “That’s just not feasible to fly in every day for a turn, just to fly back home at the end of the night, fly back again the next day to do a turn, and fly back again the next night. That’s not feasible.”

Here’s what the airline said in a statement regarding this:

“We are committed to safety and reliability. Last year we had excessive cancellations primarily as a result of air traffic control delays. In such instances, more passengers are negatively affected by delays and cancellations when aircraft are routed on multi-day trips versus out and back flying which significantly decreases downline impacts. To better serve our customers we have reduced multi-day trips although we are still operating some for those crew members who prefer them. For the first two months of the year, we are number one in completion for the industry suggesting early results are encouraging.”

My take on this Frontier flight attendant problem

The way I view it, two things can both be true — flight attendants can be justifiably frustrated, and Frontier can be right to make this change.

Of course this absolutely sucks for flight attendants. At some bases, over half of flight attendants are commuters. Imagine you’ve worked at the airline for years, and this change completely changes the economics of the job. If you’re a commuter, it’s simply not practical to keep this job without moving. You’re not only missing out on your per diem, but you’re also on the hook for paying for your accommodation at your base.

That being said, Frontier is right to make the changes that it’s making. The airline hasn’t been making money, and the only way the airline can make money is by being really disciplined with costs. Operating planes to and from base every day makes perfect sense. It’s great in terms of operational reliability, and the airline needs to cut labor costs, or else it won’t be in business for long.

So it’s a tricky situation. I absolutely feel bad for flight attendants, but I also think the company is making the right decision.

Bottom line

Frontier Airlines is overhauling its aircraft scheduling, with most planes now flying to and from a particular base every day. This has done wonders in terms of improving operational reliability. On top of that, it can help the airline save money with staffing, for the precise reason that flight attendants are frustrated.

I feel bad for flight attendants who have been at the airline for a long time and like their jobs, because for many, this change will mean that working at Frontier no longer makes financial sense. But I’d say that it’s a hard but necessary change.

What do you make of this situation at Frontier?