Skift Take
It's hard to consistently make money in the airline industry. But Indigo Partners, led by former America West Airlines CEO Bill Franke, has an excellent track record. Once again, he is poised to make a big profit after buying an airline cheaply and taking it public.
Frontier Airlines on Friday confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in the airline industry — it plans to go public soon under the symbol FRNT.
Its filing for an initial public offering comes a little more than three years after private equity firm Indigo Partners bought the then-struggling airline from Republic Airways in a deal valued at $145 million, including debt. Indigo, which had earlier turned Spirit Airlines into a no-frills carrier, slashed costs and changed Frontier's model, turning it into the third ultra low cost U.S. airline, joining Spirit and Allegiant Air.
Indigo used a classic low-cost carrier playbook. It added seats to planes, and now packs more passengers on its Airbus 320s and A321s than any other U.S. airline. Where possible, it hired airport contractors instead of more highly-paid employees. And it started charging for nearly everything, from sodas to advanced seat assignments to car
