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Frontier Airline Pilots Association Members Approve Agreement With Frontier Airlines

Dépèche transmise le 17 juin 2011 par Business Wire

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Frontier Airlines today announced that the membership of the Frontier Airline Pilots Association (FAPA) overwhelmingly ratified an agreement approving their participation in the restructuring of Frontier Airlines. With 89% of the pilots participating, the vote was 498 to 58, or 89.6% in favor and 10.4% opposed. Frontier is a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET).

“We are confident that those efforts will yield the remaining business improvements necessary to achieve our goal of $120 million in annual profitability improvement.”

“This agreement is an important element of our larger plan to secure the future of Frontier Airlines,” said Bryan Bedford, Chairman, President and CEO of Frontier. “The new pilot agreement combined with other savings we have been able to secure in recent weeks bring us more than halfway to our annual profitability improvement goal of $120 million. As a result of these accomplishments, our Board will move forward with its commitment to invest additional liquidity in Frontier to fund the airlines operations and future growth.”

Bedford stressed that “It’s business as usual at Frontier,” noting that the airline experienced some of its highest booking days of the year over the past week. “This is a tribute to all of our employees, and also to our loyal customers who realize the importance of preserving Frontier’s low fares and helping to secure the jobs of thousands of Frontier employees who live in their communities.”

“I want to personally thank FAPA’s leadership – Jeff Thomas, Scott Gould and Mike Haffling – for their commitment and contribution to a process that led to the development and ratification of this agreement. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to the Frontier pilots who realized the value of this agreement to FAPA members, their co-workers and the communities we serve.”

“We understand the significant challenges Frontier faces due to soaring energy prices,” said FAPA President Jeff Thomas. “We believe the Frontier pilots’ investment in Frontier Airlines will be beneficial to our pilots, our fellow Frontier employees, and the communities and customers we serve. We appreciate Republic leadership’s recognizing the issues and interests of our pilots as well as their constructive, cooperative efforts in crafting this agreement. We are confident this agreement will allow Frontier to flourish and grow in the future.”

The Company continues to negotiate agreements with key stakeholders, including aircraft lessors, significant suppliers and distribution partners. “We are confident that those efforts will yield the remaining business improvements necessary to achieve our goal of $120 million in annual profitability improvement.” Bedford concluded.

About Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET), an airline holding company that also owns Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America. Currently in its 17^th year of operations, Frontier employs more than 5,500 aviation professionals and operates more than 550 daily flights from its hubs at Denver International Airport, Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport and Kansas City International Airport. Frontier offers routes to more than 80 destinations in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica.

For more in-depth information on Frontier Airlines and to book tickets, please visit its website at FrontierAirlines.com.