Frontier Airlines will open a crew base at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport and reopen its Chicago crew base.
Both openings are slated for May, following the discount carrier's opening of a Cleveland crew base in March.
With the three added bases, Frontier will have a total of 12. The additions will help with Frontier's plans to increase out-and-back flying to nearly 90% of its network by the spring, up from the current 50%. By flying more out-and-back routes and fewer complex point-to-point itineraries, Frontier aims to improve operational reliability and cut costs.
In Cincinnati, from which Frontier currently serves 12 destinations, the carrier plans to employ approximately 160 flight attendants and 80 pilots within its first year of operation.
Frontier previously operated a Chicago base, serving O'Hare and Midway airports, until April 2022. The carrier expects approximately 110 pilots in Chicago within a year of the reopening. The carrier already has 190 Chicago-based flight attendant positions.
Frontier flies five routes out of O'Hare and 13 routes out of Midway.