Two analyses that I’ve read have been Cranky Flyer’s take, which always includes some excellent discussion. This article states that Denver is not a large enough city to maintain three hubs, with UAL, Frontier, and Southwest all flying many of the same routes with rock bottom prices. I don’t disagree. It was fun while it lasted, and a nice change from 12 years prior.

Scott McCartney of Wall Street Journal blog feels that an increased Denver presence will ultimately hurt United. Here in Denver Frontier carries much hometown pride, and the comments in initial Denver Post article reflect that, with many comments bagging Southwest and worry of a big Texas company arriving in Colorado and shutting things down.

I love Frontier, their service, and the unique identity and branding they’ve created.

I’m not as concerned about where the company is based, (Southwest has brought jobs to Colorado too,) but I worry about losing Frontier’s service to Mexico. This will definitely be affected one way or another. Currently Frontier offers non-stop service to the big Mexican vacation cities. I’ve flown them to Cancun twice to start Yucatan excursions, to Puerta Vallarta, and Mazatlan.  During high season they offer at least two flights a day.  I like the selection, service, and price.  Frontier even offers service to Costa Rica.

United serves these routes too, however this will result in less competition and less frequency. American and Continental fly to Mexico through their respective Texas hubs, however non-stop flights are certainly preferred by me, even if the cost is a bit higher.

Losing this Mexico service a mi no es bueno…

On a related note: Every news article containing reader comments ends up turning into a “A is better than B” rant, with a detailed assessment of an airline based on their own personal limited number of flights. This isn’t Emirates versus RyanAir. There’s nothing individually special about UAL, Southwest, or Frontier – nor anything horrendous about them either.

Everyone seems to have a sob story about some airline that did something atrocious to them – but the reality is you go to the airport, enplane, sit in a chair, and be in another city in a few hours. That’s it – it’s rare that there’s anything further that’s special about the trip or you.

My first choice is United because with miles and mileage plus promos I get about two free trips every 18 months, (yes I can actually redeem them with good planning,) and they fly overseas allowing major mileage accrual. But I fly Frontier and Southwest when price and schedule suit me. Frontier has a good selection of non-stops to Mexico – and I’m flying Southwest in a few weeks because they have an early departure that I want, purposely paying a higher price on Southwest over Frontier or UAL so I can take an early return flight, arrive work in the morning, and avoid taking a day off.   Price isn’t everything. Period.  I’d rather have THREE airlines giving me non-stops from the east coast that morning rather than two.

People enjoy recanting their water cooler stories about being treated like cattle, or liking whoever because they can watch TV for two hours, (hey! books!) and other irrelevant (other than to them) personal experiences, but it’s more important to realize that variety and options are key.

Having three airlines with three different operating methods is something to keep and appreciate – regardless if you’ll never fly on X again because blah blah blah.

Speaking of bidding, if you’d like some high resolution photos of my Frontier airplanes shoot me an email. My stock footage is cheap – and in 10 years when Frontier is long forgotten maybe they’ll be worth something.

Related: Airline Competition in Denver.

Southwest Expanding at DIA - Denver Post
Delivering on a Promise – Rocky Mountain News

and I realized how much has changed in 12 years. This is why people in Denver travel are able to travel more, and their friends have more opportunities to visit them here.

If you stepped into your time machine and dialed up 1995, the year Denver International Airport opened, you would find very few flight operations except for United Airlines. Using most of the “B” gates they saw moderate origin and destination traffic, and heavy connecting traffic to cities large and small around the west. Back then DEN, (or DIA as the locals call it,) was the definition of a fortress hub. United Airlines owned it, and with exception to other airlines’ hub service, (i.e. Delta to SLC and Atlanta, Continental to Houston,) there were very few other destinations not served by United. The airport itself had a feeling of emptiness, with many seldom used gates among it’s sleek, modern yet cavernous empty spaces.

Back in 1996 I was in the process of moving to Los Angeles, and I flew out there about three times before making the move. However I like many others elected to drive down to Colorado Springs, located 70 miles from downtown Denver on the south side of the city. It’s not exactly convenient with a small mountain pass, a sluggish drive through a congested urban area, then four miles on arterials. But at that time Western Pacific Airlines, (remember the “Simpson’s” plane,) was in high gear and offering bargain prices. It was a well needed alternative to Denver’s sky high prices. Western Pacific gave Colorado Springs a tremendous spike in traffic; however they ceased operations in 1998, just after announcing plans to merge with Frontier Airlines.

Meanwhile back at the gigantic Denver airport competition was still lacking. Little development was in or around the massive swath of land, making DIA seem ever further away. (In Kansas as many still say.) Frontier Airlines, which started in 1994, was still adding routes and becoming a player in the Denver market. They managed to keep United competitive on the routes they flew – which was mostly two to three flights daily to select major cities. Over the years Frontier converted their fleet of old 737s to Airbus aircraft. Their customer service reputation remains high overall, and similar to jetBlue they offer live TV on board. Frontier also developed a large Mexico presence, (much welcome during our winter months,) and now even flies to Costa Rica. They haven’t had much success with point to point service outside of Denver, so the bulk of their flights still connect in Denver. However for us living here we’ve supported them and consider them a big player in our market, just like United.

Fast forward to the last few years. Southwest finally starts service to Denver in January of 2006. Few predicted they would consider Denver due to the high prices associated with a base there. Colorado Springs would have seemed a more logical choice, or even the northern Colorado Fort Collins/Loveland airport and it’s tiny terminal. (Which only Allegiant airlines charters serve.)

According to this archived press release Southwest’s initial cities were Chicago, Las Vegas, and Baltimore. Over the past two years the number of cities has grown and grown, enough to where airfare shoppers regularly add Southwest into their searches.

That low cost carrier traffic helped bring prices down overall, and things have grown rapidly at Denver by the regulars and more: jetBlue’s flights serve New York, Lufthansa serves cities in Germany non-stop, and United just announcing non-stop London service, adding a choice to British Airway’s already existing non-stop.

The underground trams serving all gates have been upgraded and synced for more frequent service. United is expanding it’s “B” gates to accommodate more, (and probably more,) commuter flights. When completed the Fastrack’s “East Corridor” will terminate at south end of the Jeppesen terminal, providing rail service between the airport and downtown.

I now find DIA constantly crowded, and need to use my not so secret alternative security checkpoint more and more. While annoying, it’s a sign of success – which is a good thing.

People will still have the regular complaints about Denver’s airport:  it’s far from the city, long security lines, and it’s susceptible to blizzards – but we can’t complain about lack of competition and airfare prices. So thank you Southwest Airlines. Oh and please don’t put Frontier out of business. We like all of you – yes even United at times.