Effective in September 2010, the company will remove four 120-seat Airbus 318s and one 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft from scheduled service. Three of these aircraft have been sold to third parties and two will be returned to their lessors.

Beginning in January 2011, Frontier will accept the first of six new 162-seat A320 aircraft. All six aircraft have firm lease financing arranged and will be arriving during the first two quarters of 2011.

In conjunction with the fleet changes, Frontier also confirmed the suspension of service between Denver and Rapid City on September 7, 2010, and the seasonal suspension of service between Denver and Boise from December 1, 2010 to April 17, 2011.

Frontier said that its 162-seat A320 aircraft feature comfortable all-leather seating with DIRECTV service in every seatback. The carrier’s entire Airbus fleet is configured with four rows of STRETCH seating, which provides an additional five inches of legroom. The carrier currently operates a total of 54 Airbus aircraft, seven of which are A320s.

Daniel Shurz, vice president of strategy and planning, said: “The timing of this transaction provides us a unique opportunity to efficiently match our fleet size to capacity needs during the slower fall and winter travel season. The six new A320s arriving early next year will provide us with a net capacity increase and a reduction in unit costs, making us more competitive as we embark on the busy spring and summer travel season next year.”

Will Frontier find success with this plan?

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