Below is an interesting article by Chris Walsh that appeared in yesterday’s Rocky Mountain News. Good news for Aspen, based on a Rocky Mountain News online poll,  Coloradans claim Frontier is their favorite airline. Less encouraging, is the follow-up article that appeared today about Frontier’s $16.5 million loss during three weeks in April.

Which airline would you prefer to fly?

Orbits could change at DIA :’In five years the airline structure servicing DIA is going to look different’ – By Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News – Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A three-way war involving Denver International Airport’s largest airlines is entering a phase of uncertainty amid rising fuel prices, promising to accelerate a shift in the balance of power at DIA.

The two biggest carriers, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, face severe financial challenges that threaten their very survival:

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Frontier loses $16.5 million in three weeks – By Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News -Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Frontier Airlines lost $16.5 million during a three-week period in April and saw its cash balance dip to $108.3 million, according to documents filed Wednesday with a U.S. bankruptcy court.

The carrier’s net loss during the period amounted to more than half its deficit for the last three months of 2007, which at the time ranked as the largest in its history. Denver-based Frontier did not issue results for January through March of this year because it filed for bankruptcy less than two weeks after the quarter ended.

For more on this story go to the Rocky Mountain News

Find out more about the industry, visit the Fly Guy at Stay Aspen Snowmass

ASPEN — All three airlines that fly into Aspen are facing dire financial troubles, and it’s anyone’s guess if the local aviation market will crash and burn.

But even with Frontier Airlines’ recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Delta’s first-quarter loss of $247 million and United Airlines’ $537-million first-quarter loss, industry observers are optimistic that Aspen will remain a strong destination for the airline carriers.

And as long as fuel costs continue to rise and a national recession lingers, the aviation industry will remain in turbulence.

“It’s airline carnage. … All three of these airlines are in trouble, and we are in for a period of turmoil,” said Bill Tomcich, president and CEO of Stay Aspen Snowmass and the local liaison to the airline industry. “But Aspen is in one of the most enviable positions.”

The driving force is that there is more competition in the Aspen market than there has been for more than a decade. With Frontier’s inaugural flight scheduled for Saturday morning and then offering up to five daily flights to Denver, travelers have options that should keep fares competitive.

But airline tickets in and out of Aspen are still more expensive than most places in the country, which is a blessing in disguise, according to Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo.

United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said Tuesday that it’s cutting flights and 1,100 jobs to combat soaring fuel costs and recoup its losses. But it’s unlikely that flights will be cut in and out of Aspen.

Business here appears to be extremely lucrative for the short-haul carriers who likely will depend on this market as a steady revenue stream.

“It won’t be Aspen … your fares are too high,” Boyd said, adding that prices can’t get much higher here. “Markets like Aspen can only help the situation. You’re kind of bulletproof from this.

“Believe me, you’re in the minority.”

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Until June 30, the airline is selling books of affordable one-way tickets between Aspen and Denver on the new “Colorado Commuter Pass” program.

For the same price as a round-trip between Aspen and Denver on United Express ($1,097), travelers can buy books of six one-way flights for $99 each way or 10 one-way flights for $89 for each leg.

“The cost of flying to Denver and driving is going to be comparable,” said Bill Tomcich, president of Stay Aspen Snowmass, a central bookings agency. “It’s going to provide incentives for people to get off the highway and back into the air.”

Books of tickets for the Aspen/Denver connection must be purchased by credit card and travel must be completed by the end of June, but there are no blackout dates with the flights and flight tickets are transferable.

Tomcich said the program hearkens back to Aspen Mountain Air operations — which terminated in the late 1990s — or earlier deals on Continental Airlines that once made flights to Denver accessible for locals.

The program is an experiment, but Tomcich said there is a chance that it could stay for the long term if it proves successful for Frontier.

Flights also connect to Durango, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction.

for more information or to purchase the commuter pass, talk to the Fly Guy here

Ticket prices for journeys also offered by competitor Southwest Airlines will not be changed, Urbanski added.

Southwest Airlines recently added a hold luggage charge on its flights as a means of avoiding an increase in ticket prices.

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