Frontier CEO fires back at United CEO’s criticism of discount airlines

Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle returned to its counterpart. United Airlines Who said the deep discount model in the United States died.

“This cute, Bi Biffle said on Wednesday at the Skift Global Forum, a travel conference in New York. “If it is good in mathematics, [flight] The problem of excessive supply in the United States. “

Biffle’s comments were a response to the United CEO Scott Kirby, who said that the US’s biggest discounter would come out of work at a airline conference in Long Beach last week, Long Beach. In August, the spirit entered the second bankruptcy after a year after not finding a solid financial foundation.

When Kirby was asked why the Spirit would close, he replied, “Because I’m fine in mathematics.”

If Kirby wants Biffle Frontier to be the largest US discount carriers, then he would be “the last man standing on a sinking ship”.

Biffle, the low unit costs of the airline company – $ 7.50 per mile, except for fuel, in the second quarter, much larger United defended the $ 12,36 and said that the carrier appealed to customers who never fly and traveling to other things while traveling like luxury hotels.

When I asked Frontier’s extra capacity on the table by United on Wednesday, Biffle said, “This is Nordstrom’s CEO” CEO “customers get jeans from Walmart. “

Both Frontier and United, with other airlines Jetblue AirwaysThey announced that they added new flights to the big soul paths to win while fighting their customers.

Ultra-low-cost airlines, after the increase in costs after the pandema, the excessive part of domestic US flights, which pushed the wages down, and the Frills basic economic tickets and fought for frequently flying models on global networks.

“Customers care about value and one [ultra-low-cost carrier]”Kirby to CNBC on Tuesday.

This budget airlines have been based on rock -based wages and wages for everything from seat assignments to the cabin luggage, and large network airlines copied with basic economic tickets. Now, Spirit, Frontier and others want to offer more luxurious offers and bundles including what they charge.

Frontier has passed a net loss of 70 million dollars in the second quarter, but a third ranks of a mid-high-digit unit increase in income increase and “providing a solid foundation for profitability in 2026”.