DENVER, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- A Bankruptcy Court today granted Frontier Airlines relief it requested regarding its collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The court granted Frontier's request for wage concessions from the IBT and adopted the airline's proposed heavy maintenance plan. Frontier's plan allows the company to furlough its heavy maintenance workers during periods Frontier does not require heavy maintenance work and recall these workers during periods Frontier has work available.
"We are pleased to have received a ruling in favor of the wage concessions and heavy maintenance plan we requested," said Frontier President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Menke. "The concessions will help us achieve a competitive cost structure. The heavy maintenance plan allows us to address our reduced heavy maintenance requirements resulting from reductions in our aircraft fleet."
Frontier filed a motion with the bankruptcy court in September seeking court approval of the Company's proposal to achieve several million dollars in annual savings through court-ordered relief of selected portions of the company's collective bargaining agreement with the IBT.
"We filed our motion after we were unsuccessful in reaching an agreement with the IBT that would allow us to reduce our operating costs and address our reduced need for heavy maintenance," said Frontier Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Collins.
The ruling followed months of attempts by Frontier to reach a negotiated settlement with the union, including an additional three weeks of court-recommended negotiations between the parties following several days of testimony.
"Our inability to reach agreement on outsourcing heavy maintenance, given our reductions in fleet size, would have put Frontier at a competitive disadvantage and required heavier operational outlays than we feel are appropriate in this competitive market and in these difficult economic times," Collins said. "This ruling allows us to continue to perform heavy maintenance with our trusted employees, while providing us the option to outsource if court-approved milestones are not met."
For now, Frontier will continue to do heavy maintenance work with its own mechanics, furloughing and recalling these mechanics as needed.
About Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc.
Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Denver-based Frontier Airlines. Currently in its 15th year of operations, Frontier Airlines is the second-largest jet service carrier at Denver International Airport, employing more than 5,000 aviation professionals. Frontier Airlines' mainline operation has 56 aircraft with one of the youngest Airbus fleets in North America. Frontier Airlines' mainline operations offer 24 channels of DIRECTV(R) service in every seatback along with a comfortable all-coach configuration. In conjunction with a fleet of ten Bombardier Q400 aircraft operated by Lynx Aviation (a subsidiary of Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc.), Frontier offers routes to more than 50 destinations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica. In November 2006, Frontier and AirTran announced a first-of-its-kind integrated marketing partnership that offers travelers the ability to reach more than 80 destinations across four countries with low fares aboard two of the youngest fleets in the industry. For more in-depth information on Frontier Airlines, please visit its Web site at FrontierAirlines.com.
