By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -U.S. budget carrier Frontier Airlines said on Tuesday it will offer first-class-style seating to woo passengers willing to spend more.
Frontier previously added more seats with extra leg room and business fares targeted at small companies.
Other budget carriers have also been targeting higher fares. In August, Spirit Airlines (OTC:SAVEQ) began offering intra-Europe-style business-class seats with a guaranteed blocked middle seat, while Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) said in July it planned to offer premium seats with extra leg room.
Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said the airline hopes to begin offering first-class seating on all flights in late 2025, which will require approval from regulators.
"There's a percentage of our customers willing to pay more for comfort," Biffle told Reuters. "These are affluent leisure customers who want a first-class seat."
The airline is also boosting benefits for frequent flyers.
Biffle said other programs have gotten less generous with fewer seat upgrades, and noted that the largest U.S. airlines had introduced no-frills "basic economy" seats.
"This is really our answer," he said. "We can produce the cheapest coach seat, but we can also produce the cheapest first-class seat as well."
The U.S. Transportation Department said in its most recent report that Frontier in August was ninth out of 10 major airlines for on-time arrivals, with 65% on time at the 80 airports it serves, and ranks seventh for the first eight months of 2024.
Biffle criticized a U.S. Senate report objecting to Frontier's practice of paying gate agents as much as $10 for catching travelers attempting to avoid paying for carry-on baggage.
"These are shoplifters. These are people that are stealing," Biffle said. "It's not equitable to everyone who follows the rules."
He also said the industry was poised to benefit from President-elect Donald Trump's lighter-touch regulatory approach.
"There's also going to be kind of a unshackling," Biffle said. "We're going to focus on things that matter, like, like safety, and stop worrying about regulating prices and regulating experiences."