Frontier Airlines to add Denver service from CIRA

Paul Harmon, chairman of the Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority board, speaks to reporters Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, about the new Frontier Airlines service. (Photo by Ryan Denham/WJBC)

BLOOMINGTON – It’s official: Frontier Airlines is coming to Central Illinois Regional Airport, with nonstop service from Bloomington to Denver starting May 18.

The year-round flights start at $80 each way, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoons. Connections are then available in Denver to cities such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

In what some officials called the “worst-kept secret in town,” CIRA announced the new air service Thursday inside the east Bloomington terminal. The new flights are the latest addition to CIRA’s schedule as it tries to fill the void to be left when AirTran Airways departs permanently this summer – taking along with it 40 percent of CIRA’s total traffic.

Allegiant Air also plans to add two weekly flights from CIRA to Orlando, Fla., in mid-May, giving CIRA six new flights each week. That’s still well short of the 25 weekly flights (to Atlanta, Ga., and Orlando) being lost from AirTran, but CIRA executive director Carl Olson stressed Thursday that their recruitment efforts aren’t over yet.

“Because there are so few airlines, and because of consolidation, you won’t have one airline leave like AirTran and back-fill with one airline. That time is gone,” Olson said. “So it’s gonna be a patchwork. This doesn’t mark a conclusion for us today. This marks another step forward for progress.”

Flights on Frontier’s 99-seat jets will depart Denver at 3:10 p.m. local time on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving at CIRA at 6:15 p.m. The jets, to be operated by Frontier affiliate Republic Airways, will then depart CIRA at 6:50 p.m. and arrive back in Denver at 7:55 p.m. local time. Flights went on sale Wednesday night.

Frontier previously had service from CIRA to Denver, but stopped it in 2001. The CIRA announcement Thursday was one of five new Denver routes that Frontier is launching.

“Adding low-fare service to these five new destinations from Denver is another sign of our ongoing commitment to our hometown,” David Siegel, president and chief executive officer of Frontier, said in a statement.

Funding the service

The Community Air Service Initiative, led by the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, pooled $450,000 to help lure new CIRA service – including $300,000 from Bloomington, Normal and McLean County governments, and $150,000 from local companies and business groups, such as State Farm Insurance Cos. and Country Financial. Chamber CEO Charlie Moore said losing AirTran is a potentially huge blow to the local economy.

Some – but not all – of the $450,000 CASI fund will be put into a separate fund for a one-year Frontier revenue-guarantee program. CASI will get reports from Frontier every 35 to 40 days on occupancy and capacity on its CIRA-Denver flights, Moore said, and Frontier can draw on the CASI money if certain revenue levels are not produced. In busier months, such as the summer, Frontier will add money to the CASI fund if the revenue target is exceeded, Moore said.

Moore would not say what the guaranteed revenue level is, nor would he say how much of the $450,000 has been dedicated to Frontier’s first year of service.

“It’s a risk-mitigation account. So it’s not just a cash-incentive for them,” Moore said.

Bloomington Mayor Steve Stockton, one of several elected officials on hand for Thursday’s announcement, said he thinks the new Frontier service will be a hit with Central Illinois travelers. He said what’s left of the CASI fund could also be used to engage with other carriers to bring in more service to CIRA.

But if Frontier isn’t happy after the first year, Stockton said adding more money to the CASI fund would be something local leaders would have to consider carefully.

“Getting them in here and showing them what we can do is one thing,” he said. “Propping them up on a continual basis would be another issue, and one that we wouldn’t take lightly.”

Ryan Denham can be reached at ryan@wjbc.com.