Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines has filed for an initial public offering, saying it will be well-positioned to take advantage of an upcoming travel rebound.
In the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Frontier reported a net loss in 2020 of $225 million -- compared with net income of $251 million in 2019 -- and total operating revenues of $1.25 billion, about half of the year prior's levels. Its cash burn last year was about $2 million per day. However, Frontier said current trends will favor its recovery.
"Throughout the pandemic, the U.S. airline industry has seen stronger domestic demand than international demand, and the segments of domestic travel that have recovered fastest have been [visiting friends or relatives] and [leisure travel] in contrast to business travel, both of which are trends that we believe position us to outperform the airline industry as a whole," the carrier said in its filing. "We also believe new working patterns and the increasing growth of work from home will lead to increasing numbers of employees choosing to live remotely from their office location. We believe this trend will lead to an increased number of shorter leisure trips by Americans."
While Frontier said in its filing that business travel is not a focus, it does "attract a significant number of small-business travelers who may be more sensitive to travel costs."
Frontier was acquired by an investment fund managed by Indigo Denver Management Co. in December 2013. It had filed for an IPO in 2017 but abandoned those plans last summer.
The filing listed an offering price of $100 million, though that is subject to change.
Source: Business Travel News