Things in the Sky

Well, this was the day that many – industry observers, passengers, and most importantly, employees – have been waiting for. Not surprisingly, Republic Airways has announced that it will be consolidating the Frontier and Midwest brands under the Frontier name.

Photo Credit: Midwest Airlines.

Why does that make the most sense? Well, let’s be honest – Frontier is the larger carrier of the two right now, and probably has the better brand recognition. In addition, the Midwest brand has slowly been degraded over the years. The airline that used to be known for business-class flights out of Milwaukee is not what it used to be. So I think it’s better to move on with the Frontier name. That being said, Republic will have to work at building up brand recognition. Frontier is still a “hometown” airline much like Midwest.

So what will the product look like? Well, we don’t have that many details at this point. But, Midwest fliers do not have to worry about the cookies – those will be brought to the entire merged airline. My guess is that the cookie represents an easy way for the airline to differentiate itself from competitors. Meanwhile, the Frontier fliers will be happy to know that the animal tails will be sticking around. And a new aircraft will feature a badger – the Wisconsin state animal – on its tail. And of course, the airlines’  will be merging their frequent flyer programs.

In terms of inflight entertainment, LiveTV will remain on the Airbus fleet. The airline is “still exploring other in-flight entertainment options and plan to have some form available in each of our aircraft by 2011.” That’s interesting – I wonder what they mean by “each of our aircraft.” Does that include the E135/E145 aircraft that are currently based in Milwaukee? We’ve seen other airlines put IFE on the E170/E175/E190 already, but not on the ERJs, as far as I know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Frontier ends up with internet service at some point. 2011 is kind of an ambitious goal, and Aircell has be priding itself on very fast installations. But that’s just my guess, here.

What’s the timeline here? The two airlines plan to merge their operations – everything in the back of the house – by November of this year. So one would guess that once that happens we’ll probably see travelers booking all of their flights on one website. The complete branding integration should be completed on October 2011.

So now a huge step is out of the way – at least the airline has a single brand name to use, which I think is the right move. But their are challenges ahead. Integrating the IT systems of the two airlines is no easy task. There are still labor issues to sort out. The company needs to get all of its employees behind the new brand to ensure that customers receive a customer experience.

That being said, the company has an exciting few months, with more aircraft arriving and many new routes launching over the coming weeks. I am the most interested in how the airline develops its two hubs. We’ve already seen some moves there with Frontier announcing Denver service to some long-time Midwest cities. And plus the airline has that smaller third hub in Kansas City that is seeing a bit of growth as well. And plus, there’s that CSeries order to think about.

Anyway, this is a very exciting day. So let’s enjoy it. But of course we’ll all be having fun watching two airlines become one. Meanwhile, you can find the official website about the integration here.

On a side note, I have to laugh a bit about the whole fleet being repainted in Frontier colors. Take N874RW, an Embraer 170. The aircraft was wearing Frontier colors when Republic was operating some aircraft before Frontier’s bankruptcy. Then, it eventually ended up in a Midwest scheme.

So those are my initial thoughts for now. But I’m sure I’ll be writing more about this soon!

Republic’s certainly been a fun player to watch of late. The regional carrier has  become what some might call a “real” airline after acquiring Frontier and Midwest, instead of just focusing on fixed-fee operations. Republic did release its fourth quarter earnings last night, but let’s talk about the future, because that’s just more fun.

Today we saw an even more interesting development with Republic’s announcement that it will order Bomardier’s CS300, certainly a big boost for the type and the manufacturer. Republic plans to order 40 of the type with 40 options, with deliveries starting in the second quarter of 2015. The aircraft will seat 138, and there will be 5 rows of STRETCH seating for 25 passengers (the aircraft is in a 2-3 configuration). And that’s basically all we know for now. Which is where things get interesting.

A Bombardier rendering of a Republic CS300 aircraft.
Photo Credit: Bombardier.

At face value, this order looks like a replacement for Airbus aircraft, especially those that might be coming off lease in the future.  The CSeries will seat two more than Frontier’s current A319s. Bombardier is promising some strong economic benefits of the aircraft. Bryan Bedford called the aircraft “game-changing” during today’s earnings call, and it was also mentioned how it will provide “great flexibility” for them. Clearly, if the CSeries does end up doing great on the cost side of things, that certainly helps give Republic an advantage in competitive markets like its Denver and Milwaukee hubs.

This order might make Boeing and Airbus get moving on a decision on re-engining the 737 and A320 families, respectively. Plus, it might want to make other carriers take a closer look at the aircraft now. (United and AirTran, strong competitors in Denver and Milwaukee, respectively, have both expressed interest in the aircraft.) But back to Republic. Continue reading ‘Republic: Our Lufthansa?’

Midwest announced service to San Francisco and Raleigh from Milwaukee earlier this week, which were routes eliminated by the airline in September of last year.

Photo credit: Chris Weyer. Used with permission.

Last year, Midwest had to cut many routes in September when the airline eliminated its MD-80 fleet. Their 717s didn’t have the range to get to the West Coast, so service to San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle from Milwaukee was eliminated, though service to the latter three was maintained through Kansas City. A few regional destinations were axed , and Raleigh was one of them. Unlike San Francisco, Raleigh lost all of its service.

Thanks to new fleet flexibility, Midwest can get to the West Coast again with Republic E190s and Frontier A319s. The Los Angeles service was originally flown with an E190, but is now flown with a Frontier A319. The daily San Francisco flight, which launches on April 19, will also be operated by an A319. Midwest will be competing with AirTran in the market.

Meanwhile, service to Raleigh will begin on April 1, with two daily flights from Milwauke. Service will be operated by Republic E170s. There is currently no competition on the route.

It’s certainly been interesting/fun to watch Republic work on Frontier and Midwest. The two airlines are facing strong competition in both Denver and Milwaukee, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see Midwest restore its route map.