Question #63766 - Flights in and out of Provo

[DavidP]

I'm actually surprised that Frontier would offer daily flights in and out of Provo. Obviously I think Provo is definitely a market that should be targeted, and could provide some good profit for an airline, but I don't think daily flights are really the best decision because there are a lot of down-times throughout the year.

I would think it would be smarter to offer flights on days that they know people travel more, and then offer even more flights (possible 2 flights/day?) during times that they know BYU and UVU students will be coming/going (beginning/end of semesters, etc).

There are plenty of airlines that offer flights to/from certain cities, but only do it on specific days, once-a-week, twice-a-week, etc. I wonder if daily flights in Provo is too much?

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Link to the board question:

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/63766/

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[Waldorf and Sauron]

I have to say this was an awesome answer, with a lot of good insights from somebody obviously very knowledgeable. I learned more about airlines in this short answer than the rest of my life combined.

I think Frontier has probably done their research and also is probably looking at this decision from the long term. Airline traffic in general has been picking up over the last year or so (it fell off with the recession), and given the number of flights to Denver from Salt Lake International, it seems like there's plenty of room for growth. Time will tell, I guess.

[Tao]

Its possible, though I'd think that getting 15 people (and flying at a loss) on an off day is likely to earn them a dozen return customers down the line, if you have the capital to operate at a temporary loss, the long term benefits can more than out weigh the investment.

[Waldorf and Sauron]

Exactly - just knowing that the flight will be available every day increases the likelihood that customers will check those flights first.