Barry Biffle, Frontier Group CEO, joins 'Money Movers' to discuss summer travel demand, consumer spending and airport disruptions.

Frontier Group CEO Barry Biffle has reported a strong rebound in consumer demand for air travel, following a period of uncertainty earlier in the year. Biffle indicated that while March and April saw significant hesitation among travellers, bookings and fares have since increased year-over-year. He attributed the recent upswing to pent-up demand, noting that consumers who did not lose their jobs have resumed planning trips.

Biffle highlighted that recent load factors—the percentage of seats filled on flights—have reached their highest levels in over a month. He described the current environment as “much smoother” compared to the previous six to eight weeks and expressed optimism about continued strong travel patterns throughout the summer.

Addressing concerns about airport disruptions, Biffle stated that Frontier has not experienced significant impacts from delays at major hubs such as Newark or Denver. He acknowledged ongoing challenges with air traffic control but referenced ongoing efforts by officials to address staffing and technology issues. According to Biffle, improvements in these areas are expected to become more evident in the coming months and years.

When asked about differing industry outlooks, Biffle remarked that the recent drop and recovery in demand was unusually brief. He said the company has observed a transition from a downturn to positive year-over-year results in a matter of weeks and expressed cautious optimism about future growth as consumers return to normal travel habits.



Frontier CEO: The consumer is coming back with a vengeance

Let's bring in Frontier Group CEO Barry Biffle to learn more, Barry, because a few weeks ago you warned about consumer demand and rising uncertainty. What are you seeing now? Yeah, thanks for having us here. Yes, it's night and day. I mean, if you go back to March and April, there was significant uncertainty. We're seeing that now bounce back. You know, three weeks ago, I think we called the bottom. And what we're now seeing is loads and fares are now up year over year for May, which is a stark contrast to what we saw back in March. And I think what happened is the consumer paused and now that's pent up demand. They didn't lose their jobs. So they're like, OK, well, I'm going to go on that summer trip or that Memorial Day trip. And so we're seeing good demand. And in fact, Sunday had the highest load factor we've had in over a month. So so we're we're really seeing that consumer come back with a vengeance. And I think it's, you know, turning off the seatbelt sign. I think you've got smooth, smooth, smooth skies through the summer at this point. I think we scared people for a little bit a month or two ago, but I think people are returning to their normal travel travel patterns. Despite the confidence surveys, the consumer confidence readings, which continue to show deterioration in the way Americans are feeling. I know, listen, I see these things myself. There's what they say and then there's what they do. And I think I think people get nervous. And there was a lot of reasons to be nervous, I think, if you go back six to eight weeks ago. But I think as people as the dust has settled and the uncertainties kind of come down, I think it figured out, OK, well, if I'm not losing my job, then all right, I'm going to go about my life. And that's pretty much what we're seeing is we're seeing, you know, bookings are coming back. People are back to travel. And so we're excited about the future. Like I said, it's it's much smoother than it was just six to eight weeks ago. I know I don't think you're huge at Newark, but is there any impact on your business from what we've been seeing in terms of the delays at Newark? Also, Denver had some hiccups on on your performance. Yes. So we've had no major impacts. We're watching it very closely, obviously. But I'll tell you, we're excited. I mean, Secretary Duffy is is bringing some common sense approaches to these these issues. We've got to change some some of the technology in there and they're working on that. He's looking at ways to kind of mitigate the staffing issues. And and there's ways to kind of lessen that workload. But no, I think every month we should see it start to get better. We're not out of the woods with all the challenges we've had with with air traffic control. But I think I think by this time next year, you're going to see a stark difference, I think, in two years, even bigger difference. I think I think we're on the right track there. Barry, I keep coming back to what Bob Jordan of Southwest said. A few weeks ago, we were asking about, you know, airlines, we're having a tough run. Are we in a recession? His line was, I don't care if you call it a recession or not, in this industry, that's a recession. And I'm just wondering what accounts for the difference in tone between your comments and his. I think about three to four weeks. If I go back to where I was in mid April, things were things were very difficult. I mean, we saw dramatic we went from being up 19% in unit revenues in in in January to roughly flat and to be down double digits in March, and to now be bouncing back to be positive year over year. In May, that is one of the shortest demand shocks I've ever seen in the industry. But but I'm not, I'm not gonna fight it, right. It's good to see the consumer coming back. And I think, look, I think there were a lot of things people paused on, you know, look, if this was a kind of a two quarter recession for our industry, well, I'll take it, you know, but I'm not, you don't look the gift horse in the mouth. If the consumers coming back, we're excited about it. We're excited to carry on the summer.

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