Frontier rolled out a slew of changes last week, and most of them are very customer-friendly. In fact, these moves make it seem like Frontier has decided that its niche is going to be actually taking care of customers. If it can use that as a differentiator, more power to the airline. So far, I love the moves as a traveler. Let’s see if it brings more business to the airline.

Before we get started on the changes, it’s important to remember how Frontier sets up its pricing. The airline has its base Economy fare, a buy-up to Classic, and then the top level Classic Plus. The idea has been to bundle various fees into the higher levels to encourage people to buy up to higher packages. This announcement will help build more value into the higher levels. Here’s a chart with some of the benefits (click it to enlarge). See the Frontier website for the full list of what’s included in each type.

Now, let’s talk about what’s new here.

Change Fees Dropping
At one point, Frontier had matched the big guys with a $150 change fee. That was quietly reduced to $100 and now it’s going down to $50. But that’s only for Economy. Classic and Classic Plus fares will have no change fee at all. You have to imagine some of this is to deal with Southwest and its lack of change fee with its increasingly overlapping presence in Denver.

Bag Fees Dropping
The first bag is $20 on Frontier, but if you check-in online, you’ll now save $5. This tells me that a lot of people aren’t bothering to check-in online, so Frontier needs to use an incentive to help change that behavior.

Bike Fees Dropping
Before, there was a flat fee for checking your bike. Now it will just count as a regular bag. So if you pay the bag fee (or you’re on a ticket with no bag fees), then you can just check a bike instead of a suitcase. In outdoorsy-Colorado, Frontier’s home, this should be a big selling point. This also matches the Southwest policy while United still charges an extra fee.

Name Changes Now Allowed
Most airlines shudder at the thought of allowing name changes, but Frontier is jumping right in . . . with a catch. If you have an Economy or Classic ticket, you can give your ticket to someone else for a $50 fee. Classic Plus customers pay nothing. But there is one more thing. The name change will also require paying the difference between the original ticket and the fare available on the day of the change. So it’s like any other ticket change.

There are a couple times where this could be advantageous for the new customer. If the original ticket is in a booking class that’s currently sold out, then this will be cheaper than just buying a new ticket directly. If the flight is completely sold out, then this becomes even more important. In those cases, then it’s a big value to both side of the equation, but in more normal circumstances, it will benefit the original customer and not really anyone else. Still, it’s a great benefit because now for no more than $50 (assuming the new customer pays for the total fare), the original customer can get rid of a ticket instead of having to sit on a credit that might never get used.

Hello, Frontier Express
The turboprops and sub-50 seat regional jets are now going to be branded as Frontier Express to show that the onboard product is different. That’s great, but there’s no difference noted between the larger EMB-170/190 airplanes with no TV and the Airbus airplanes with TV.

Beyond these announcements, Frontier is making changes to its Guest Commitment which created some unparalleled benefits. I’m not entirely sure which of these are new and which are old, but here are some of the points that grabbed me.

Pay for Delays
If your flight is delayed 2 to 4 hours and it’s Frontier’s fault (not weather, etc), you get a $50 certificate for future use on Frontier. If it’s 4 to 6 hours, you get $100 certificate and a meal voucher. If it’s more than six hours, you can double that to $200.

Bag Fees
As we discussed yesterday, if your bag doesn’t travel with you, you get the fees refunded. Even if you check a bag and didn’t have to pay a fee, they’ll still give you a voucher worth the amount of what the fee would have been had it not been waived.

Stretch Seating Refunds
If you paid for Stretch seating (extra legroom) and didn’t get to sit in it for one reason or another, you’ll get a refund.

Rebooking If It’s Not Frontier’s Fault
Let’s say you’re delayed and it’s not Frontier’s fault. The weather’s bad, air traffic control, etc. Frontier will actually put you on another airline with which it has agreements if it can’t get you on Frontier within 3 hours, unlike other airlines. Unfortunately, Delta stubbornly doesn’t have one, but American, United, and Continental do. Southwest doesn’t, of course, since it doesn’t play nice with anyone.

I like what I’m seeing here. Frontier is trying to make policies more customer friendly. I’m sure some of this is related to the increasing competition from Southwest, but it can’t all be for that reason. Now it’s up to the traveling public to actually shift business to the airline so these changes can be justified.

Anyone who thinks that the days of airline schedule retaliation are over clearly hasn’t been watching Delta. The airline is royally pissed that Frontier had the gall to enter the Minneapolis to Kansas City market and now it’s unleashing its own response to try to change the airline’s mind. What a waste of a good airplane.

On March 2, Frontier said it would begin two daily flights between its mini-hub in Kansas City and Minneapolis on June 6. Before these flights, Delta was the only one operating that route. It was big enough that there were even some mainline Delta flights out there. So you would expect hard price competition between the two and maybe a little beefing up/tweaking of Delta’s schedule to best position itself against Frontier. But the reaction was far stronger than that.

Delta has quietly added new flights that sit right on top of Frontier coincidentally (yeah right), also beginning on June 6. You will now get two daily flights from Kansas City to Boston, two to Columbus, one to New Orleans, and one from Omaha to Washington/National. Why do I say this is retaliation? Because there’s no other way to look at this.

The only nonstop from Kansas City to Boston, Columbus, and New Orleans right now is on Frontier. Apparently Delta forgot to look at the tapes, however, because the Columbus flight will end on June 3. But these are also the only nonstops from Kansas City on Frontier that have no direct competition except for Austin, Seattle, and the newly-announced San Antonio flight. There’s no way Delta is going to want to waste that much aircraft time to bother with Seattle if it’s just retaliation. And Austin and San Antonio really aren’t Delta’s domain. They can leave that to the Texan airlines.

But possibly the biggest smack is that Omaha to Washington route. That’s one of the legacy Midwest Express (now part of Frontier) routes that has been operated for years. Right now, Frontier flies it twice daily but Delta is coming in to spoil the party.

Though I doubt this is the main catalyst, this move might also be a little kick in the pants for Frontier’s decision to fly to Provo, an alternate for Delta’s big Salt Lake City hub. Never a dull moment in this business.

So what’s the bottom line here? This is an attempt by Delta to convince Frontier not to bother starting Minneapolis. The hope is that if the collateral damage is too much, Frontier will walk away with its tail between its legs (sticking with the Frontier animal theme). But Frontier isn’t likely to budge on this, I wouldn’t think. Instead, both airlines may just suffer losses for awhile as they compete hard against each other. At some point, someone at Delta will realize that it’s a waste of time and pull out.

It always amazes me that airlines continue to try these types of tactics that so rarely seem to succeed. And since it’s nearly impossible to prove anti-competitive behavior, there’s nothing really stopping Delta from doing this other than someone on the inside looking at the balance sheet and saying that it’s a huge waste of money. At a time when fuel is spiking, decisions based on spite instead of actual commercial viability really are a waste.

But hey, there is a silver lining. Cheap fares for Kansas City-folk for awhile! Enjoy it while you can.

Frontier announced its summer plans this week, and we have some interesting surprises as well as a big disappointment. The bad news (for me) is that Frontier is pulling out of Long Beach. Bummer. But there are some interesting new routes coming instead.

• Provo (50 miles south of Salt Lake City) will be served once daily from Denver with an Embraer 190
• Knoxville will be served four times a week from Denver with an Airbus A319
• Sioux Falls will be served once daily from Denver with an Embraer 190
• Minneapolis will be served twice daily (once on Sunday) from Kansas City with an Embraer 170 and 190
• San Antonio will be served five times a week from Kansas City with an Embraer 190

What do you think?

At Heathrow, a New $7 Billion Terminal Actually Doesn’t Seem Crazy – BNET Headwinds
Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was incredibly expensive, but BA says it’s saving the airline more money every day, so it’s worth it.

Why Frontier Airlines Isn’t Going Anywhere Any Time Soon – BNET Headwinds
A post came out suggesting that Frontier wouldn’t exist by the end of this year. That’s laughable.

In the Trenches: Burning Out – Intuit Small Business Blog
It’s been a long time coming, but I’m starting to feel twinges of burnout. It’s time to fight that feeling.

The contrast between the holiday trek to Indiana this year versus last year couldn’t be greater. Last year we took a redeye out that was severely delayed. This year we took a morning flight that wasn’t. The biggest problem was a grumpy crew on the first flight and a broken TV on the second (with a stellar crew to help on that flight). I’ll take that, though it does highlight the differences between Frontier and Republic despite flying under the same name.

We got to Long Beach Airport an hour early and had plenty of time to spare. Inside, the Frontier folks said our E190 couldn’t fit all the bags so they were looking for people to check bags through all the way to their final destination, not just Denver. Since my wife’s “carry-on” was more like a trunk, we decided to check it.

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December 23, 2010
Frontier 1012 Lv Long Beach 650a Arr Denver 1004a
Long Beach (LGB): Gate 22, Runway 30, Depart 2m Late
Denver (DEN): Gate A32, Runway 35L, Arrive 5m Early
N162HL, Embraer E190LR, Midwest colors, 95% Full
Seat 13A
Flight Time 1h56m

Our flight, flown by Republic crews under the Frontier name in Midwest colors, boarded on time as the sun started to peak out over the horizon on the very busy Long Beach ramp. We got on board to find a frowning flight attendant. She wasn’t mean but just looked profoundly unhappy.

After taking our seats, another flight attendant walked by and loudly said my seat number while looking at me. She just kept walking and I never heard anything about it again. Beats me what that was all about.

Once the magical hour of 7a hit, the noise curfew was lifted and we were on our way. The captain turned the seatbelt sign off while it was still choppy and a couple minutes later he turned it back on. Then when it smoothed out, he never turned it back off.

Even though the seatbelt sign was on, I had to use the lav, so I got up and went to the back. It was smooth at the time but I apologized for having to get up. The flight attendant looked at me and snapped that I had to go back to my seat to wait for the lav to be empty. I understand that at the front of the plane due to cockpit proximity but I’ve never heard that at the back. Sheesh.

I did as she said and waited. Soon after I got back, we were descending into Denver.

It was a rare smooth ride into Denver, and that must have confused the flight attendants. They made the “we’ve begun our approach” announcement when we were actually on final approach. They ran through the cabin collecting trash and making people put their seatbacks up and probably just sat down right before landing.

Our connecting gate was right across the crowded concourse, so we went over there and hung out. It was fun to see three United airplanes parked next to each in three different liveries.

A friend who works for Frontier stopped by to say hello and then it was time to board.

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December 23, 2010
Frontier 618 Lv Denver 1130a Arr Indianapolis 347p
Denver (DEN): Gate A29, Runway 8, Depart 1m Early
Indianapolis (IND): Gate B15, Runway 5L, Arrive 10m Early
N927FR, Airbus A319-111, Flip the Dolphin, 100% Full
Seat 15A
Flight Time 1h50m

Lots of friendly smiles on this flight to greet us from what looked like a seasoned Frontier crew, including Flip the Dolphin on the tail. I was really excited to watch crappy TV – that’s about all you get around noon on a weekday – but as soon as I got to my seat, I found a blank screen. Damn.

I asked the flight attendant and she said she couldn’t get the TV guys onboard since we were ready to go, but she suggested trying to tilt the screen down and kick the box. I love a little rough repair work, but it didn’t do the trick.

As we were taxiing out, however, it came on. Cool. Then it went off again 5 minutes later. Son of a motherless goat. The TV was taunting me.

Soon we were airborne and the flight attendants came through to give free TV to all kids on the plane. (I guess they’re doing a holiday promo.) I asked if she would give me free TV since the audio worked and I could listen even though I couldn’t see. She gladly agreed.

Then they came through with drinks and I had a ginger ale. That was followed by the ghost of Midwest . . . the warm chocolate chip cookie. I love that.

After the service was done, the flight attendant came back to ask if I wanted a cocktail to make up for the broken screen. I had a scotch and soda and listened to stand-up on Comedy Central, which really was a great way to spend the flight. The flight attendants on this leg were just excellent; a huge contrast with the Republic flight attendants on the first flight.

We landed in a cloudy and cold Indianapolis and headed off to spend a long weekend with the family.